


Vampire1:  A Relationship with a Bite

by miasanfamilie (lilaoboe)



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Character Turned Into Vampire, FC Bayern München, Hurt, M/M, Mystery, Original Character(s), Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-22
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-07-16 17:25:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 49
Words: 80,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7277164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilaoboe/pseuds/miasanfamilie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thomas Müller is the shooting star of the season.  Just turned twenty and is already a regular starter at FC Bayern.  But Thomas is covering up a dark secret...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Canned Blood

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Vampire 1: Eine Beziehung mit Biss](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6273934) by [buffy017](https://archiveofourown.org/users/buffy017/pseuds/buffy017), [Silberchen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silberchen/pseuds/Silberchen). 



> I am just the translator on this fic, not the original author!! Those lovely people are Silberchen and buffy017, who have graciously allowed me to translate it. You can find the original fic (in German) above.
> 
> Any comments you want to leave for the authors, I'll make sure get to the original people, and if you speak German, I highly recommending you check out their other fics!!
> 
> \-----------------------------------------------
> 
> Original author notes: This story is a bit older, back when Mario Gomez still played for Bayern, and Thomas Müller was at the very beginning of his career. This story is the first in a series, which is currently 8 parts.  
> We hope you have a lot of fun reading:)

Thomas wiped his mouth off. No one could realize what he'd just done. He shouldn't have done it at all here so close to so many people.

But he simply had been thirsty, that burning thirst which had to be silenced, which could become so dangerous. Not for him, but for the others.

Slowly, he stood up, grabbed the empty can, and went to the corner where a sink was situated. He washed himself thoroughly, his mouth, his face, his teeth. Then he threw a critical glance into the mirror that hung over the sink. His teeth were still conspicuously large, but had already shrunk a little bit. He wouldn't need to wait long before he could risk being around people again.

He leaned against the cool porcelain with a sigh and shut his eyes. In moments like these, he hated what he was. he hated the part of himself that he couldn't always control. The part that wasn't human. The part that was so different to all the other people around him. Which -- "other people" would imply that he was a human himself.

But he wasn't anymore. And hadn't been for a long time. When he looked in the mirror, he saw a young man starting his twentieth year. And everyone else saw him that way too. But that was a lie.

He was older than that, much older. Around 40 years older than he let on to humans. Born in 1951, onSeptember 13, 1951 and up to his eighteenth birthday, he had led a completely normal life. As a farmer's son in a tiny town in a tucked away corner of Bavaria.

"Thomas, are you done yet?" A well-known voice interuppted him.

"Just another minute!" Thomas called back and opened his eyes again. He checked his teeth again and nodded satisfied. They looked normal again. And nothing else telling was visible euther.

He put a smile on and opened the door. "Ready," he smiled at the person opposite him.

"Then come on," Schweini hustled him along and dragged him out of the locker room. "What was going on back there?"

"Nothing," Thomas said quickly. "Just forgot something."

Basti nodded. "Hurry up, the others are already waiting." Thomas rolled his eyes. And that was coming from Basti, who was often not punctual. But he didn't say anything, but instead merely followed him through the stadium's catacombs outside to the bus.

They were indeed the last ones, which received a punishing glare from their trainer. Without saying anything else, they sat down in their seats -- Basti to Marc, himself to Michi Rensing. He jus tsmiled briefly, but didn't say anything, which Thomas was more than thankful for. He didn't have any desire to chat just then. He brain was still too abuzz with what had just happened.

It had been months since an accident like that had happened. He really thought he had it under control. But the thirst had been to large. Since weeks, he had been needing more blood rations than before.

He didn't know what was causing it -- maybe it was the higher physical effort now that he was playing football so successfully. But he'd also never needed to take it easy. So that couldn't be it alone. No, something had changed. He just didn't know what.

He closed his eyes and leaned back. With music in his ears, he could shut everything out which was good. Besides, it also prevented someone talking to him.

Michi was in a good mood, Thomas could feel that with his sharpened senses. One of the effects after just drinking. He pretended as if he hadn't noticed anything.

Michi was nice and he actually liked talking to him, but he was too afraid at the moment that he'd do something dumb. Like stare at the pumping jugular vein that laid there so enticingly and seemed to be waiting for him. It called to him primly, promising sweet, warm, pulsing blood -- it seemed to be almost impossible to ignore it.

Unconsciously, he cramped up inside. It had been years since he'd drunk human blood and yet all of a sudden he had the unique, unmistakable taste in his mouth.

"Thomas? Everything alright?" he heard Michi's voice through the bass from his mp3-player.

He nodded curtly and attempted to ignore the warmth and Michi's smell. He should have waited to drink, damn it. His senses were going to make him lose his mind here. He needed to holf out for over another hour, sitting here next to Michi and resisting the smell of his blood.

He felt his teeth grow a touch longer and pressed his lips even tighter together. He clamped his eyes shut and forced himself to breath very slowly through his mouth.

"Thomas?" he heard Michi again. This time he sounded noticeably concerned. "Thomas you're deathly pale. Should I get the doc?"

Thomas just shook his head and tried to calm himself. Up to now, he had been able to conceal his peculiarity from the doc, but witnesses it would be harder. A single person he could influence to an extent, but it would be impossible with a whole group.

"Thomas, I'm worried about you. Don't fall over here!"

"It'll be fine," he spluttered out with all of his will power.

Michi nodded, not completely convinced. "I'll get the doc if it gets any worse."

"Can you...open the window?" Thomas asked with his eyes still shut. Michi hesitated a moment, then he pointed the air conditioning to blow on Thomas a bit. Thomas breathed deeply. The cold was good, and the air-conditioned air blew Michi's scent out of his nose for a minute. He could finaly relax a little bit. And he decided to have strong-flavored hard candies with him in the future... "Michi -- do you maybe have a piece of gum for me?"

"Of course," Michi said straight away and dug around his bag for a second. Then he pressed a stick of gum into Thomas' hand.

"Thanks," Thomas nodded and shoved the gum into his mouth. It dissolved the rest of Michi's sweet smell, and even though Thomas regretted that a little bit, it was better that way. He could finally relax a little bit.

"Better?" Michi asked after a minute.

Thomas nodded. "Yeah, better. Thanks."

Michi smiled. "Good. But what was wrong?"

Thomas shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno. It was a pretty tough match."

"We've had worse..." Michi said.

Thomas shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe I'm catching something -- you never know..."

"Then... lay down, when we get back home. And go to the doc if things are still so shitty tomorrow."

Thomas nodded. "I'll do that," he promised. Even if he would go to someone else, not their club doctor.

He couldn't really help him. Besides, he wasn't suffering a sickness in an actual sense. But mayde he should call Jakob, one of the older ones of his kind. Yeah, he would do that. Jakob had helped him more than once already, and maybe he had an explanation for his current condition.

With the gum in his mouth and the firm resolve to call Jakob, he could finally fully relax. And for the first time that day, luck seemed to be on his side. They got through the evening traffic in good time back to their club grounds.

They said good bye to each other quickly, then Thomas could finally get in his car and drive back home. He drove fast, too fast, but he didn't have any more patience and wanted to be home. Besides -- what should happen to him?

A bit later he stopped in from of the house where he'd been living since the summer. Comfortable, and -- what was especially important -- beneath the shadows of some large trees. He parked his car somewhat crooked in the driveway and got out quickly. The sun gave him headaches and burnt his eyes.

When he played football, he had enough adrenaline in his body to not notice, but today he seemed to be particularly sensitive. He grabbed his bag quickly from the trunk and ran to his front door.

The cool entrance hallway welcomed him and faded his headache straight away. Luckily, he had thought to pull all his curtains shut earlier, so that only a very small amount of light fell into the house.

Exhausted, he laid down on the sofa and tried to relax. But he couldn't find any peace. Eventually he stood up and went to the kitchen to his fridge. Maybe the blood before hadn't been fresh enough or had been to little.

He took one of the cool cans and felt his teeth grow again. He grinned and he felt his teeth stand out. He probably didn't need a can opener, he grinned, to get to the blood.

Despite that, he took the can opener to hand. Quickly he opened the can and threw it back. He forewent a glass this time, that would have taken too long. Cool, but so sweet, the blood ran through his thirsty throat.

Naturally, warm blood was better. The effects lasted longer, the taste was better, but it worked fine in emergencies like this.

He drained the last drops out of the can, then closed his eyes enjoyably. He could just pull himself together and not lick the can clean. He was already noticeably feeling the blood calm him and drive away the tension. It was so good, made him calmer and... more human.

More human... Thomas snorted. On days like today, he had the feeling that he couldn't be farther separated from humans.

He cleaned out the emptied can thoroughly and threw it in the trash. He had to be careful that no one noticed what he was eating.

Then he went back into the living room. He took the telephone from the charging station, laid down on the sofa, and dialed Jakob's number, that was hopefully still current. Jakob had the pesky habit of changing his name and address frequently. But this time he was lucky, he didn't need to investigate boring queries before hearing the calm, trusted voice.

"Hallo Thomas," Jakob answered.

"Hallo," Thomas sighed happily.

Jakob was quiet a second. "Are you in trouble, little one?"

"I don't know," Thomas admitted. "I'm hungry, more than usual. Two cans today! And when Michi was sitting next to me... I almost attacked him!"

"Since when has this been happening?"

Thomas shrugged his shoulders. "A couple weeks... but today was particularly bad."

"Tell me," Jakob urged. "What was so different today than normal."

Thomas tried to find something, but everything was exactly as usual.

Jakob sighed distinctly. "And before? Something must be the cause of this Thomas."

"I don't know," murmured Thomas. "It's not the sport, is it?"

"No," Jakob said straight away. "You have way more stamina than... your colleagues; you're way stronger."

Thomas nodded, sometimes it was hard for him to pretend to be exhausted, when too much fitness would be noticeable. "Listen, I think it's better if I come by," Jakob said, a bit surprisingly.

Thomas hesitated briefly, then nodded. Maybe Jakob would be able to help him. "I'll be there tomorrow evening."

"Thanks," Thomas nodded. He didn't need to ask if Jakob would find him.

"Til then," Jakob said good bye and hung up.

Thomas nodded. "Til then..." he whispered in the telephone.

He laid the telephone on the table with a sigh and shut his eyes. Did Jakob already know what was wrong? And if so -- what was wrong? Was he sick? Could he even become sick? After all, he wasn't a human anymore, so he couldn't imagine that he'd get something like the flu. Or maybe there were illnesses, which only they could catch, that were unknown to humans? Maybe he had drunk tainted blood? But he would have noticed that, wouldn't he have?

On the other hand -- how should he have noticed? Or had he caught some other illness? But from whom? After all, he never came in contact with others of his kind. Jakob was the only one who we had irregular contact with and even then mostly only over the telephone. There were more of them, he knew that, but he hadn't had much interest in spending much time with them.

There were a few who lived like him. Who sought out a lot of contact with humans and attempted to lead a normal life. Those were mostly the young ones. The older ones withdrew for the most part and just watched.

Maybe he'd be like that sometime. When he'd survived multiple generations of people, when he didn't want to expose himself to the sorrow of their deaths anymore. But for now, his life the way he led it was preferable to him. Maybe sometime he'd even find a partner and not stay alone. He was scared of that. Eventually being isolated and alone.

He sighed quietly and looked outside. The sun had set in the mean time, he would be able to go on the streets without any problem. But what if he were to run into another one of those damn good enticingly smelling humans?

Would he be able to hold himself back again? Would he even want to? That before, that had been Michi. Michi, who he knew and liked. Would he have the same inhibitions before a stranger? Or would he just attack them and take from them that which kept him living? What if he were seen doing it? Or if he took too much?

He had never yet killed a person. Never! Animals, sure, especially when he had still been very young. He had always been extra careful around humans. And he didn't want to change that. So he would stay inside and keep away from people.

He sighed quietly, a little bit of movement would have certainly done him good, but he would be able to catch that later in the nighttime. Thomas nodded. That was a good idea. Around three it should be calm enough to go outside. So he made himself comfortable on the sofa, put a DVD in -- and waited.


	2. Almost Gone Wrong

He dozed off a bit. Even though he didn’t need to sleep, sometimes it was very comfortable to shut off his consciousness.

Sometime during the relaxation, he started being more awake and looked at the clock again. Shortly before eleven -- could he risk it? He was unsure, but the pressure to move was getting stronger. Or the hunger?

He decided he would just stay away from the main streets and avoid all the people and stood up. Quickly, he pulled on his running clothes and left his apartment. Out to the park, here no one saw him, here he could also run at a more suitable pace without holding himself back.

It was cold outside, he could tell that from the windshields. He himself didn’t feel the cold like humans. It didn’t bother him, exactly as little as immense heat did. He ran out of the city and after several kilometers had left the houses behind him. With a car, he would have needed significantly longer for that stretch, but in order to not stick out, he needed to fall back on one most of the time. But in the night time, he could forego it. He enjoyed the feeling, how the wind stroked over his skin and the feeling of correctly moving. Without holding back.

He couldn’t say how fast he really was running, but he was faster than a car in city traffic in any event. It felt so good to properly run and not have to continually make sure he wasn’t faster than the others. After a while, he stopped and stood still. Here outside of the city, you could see the stars in the sky. The moon was just a thin crescent, on its way to being full again. It was a… peaceful moment, that he enjoyed from his deepest heart.

The night was his time, and only his self-chosen life with humans got him to leave his house in the day. And to give that up wasn’t in the cards yet at the moment. He loved his life how it was now. Playing football was fun for him. After many years where he’d just simply trudged through life, he finally had found something which fulfilled him. And he wouldn’t give that up again. At least not in the next few years. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Even living in the big city was more normal and kept drawing him in…

There was something. He smelled something… He focused and turned slightly to the left. He smelled it very weakly, but it was there without mistake. He ran in the direction of the smell, the enticing scent.

A couple of times he had to correct his direction, but after a while, he was very near. He stayed still for a minute and took a deep breath. The smell nearly overwhelmed him. Sweet and warm -- like fire, thirst burned in his throat, a thirst which could only be quenched in one way. With warm, fresh blood. Human blood. Everything else helped him survive, but only human blood could release this desire in him.

He tried to hold back again, but couldn’t do it. He ran faster, farther in the direction the scent was coming from, until he saw him. The man who was walking his dog. It was very simple. He just needed to go to him. The man certainly wouldn’t guard himself against him. He wouldn’t want to guard himself… one step, just one more step. Slowly, Thomas slunk closer. Noiseless.

He was only a couple steps away when the small dog began barking. The man bent down to his dog, pet him, and looked around alarmed. Thomas froze mid-step. He knew the man couldn’t see him. But the dog sensed him and that kept it alert, snarling.

One jump, and the man with his irresistible, warm, living blood would be delivered to him helplessly. The dog barked again loudly. Thomas hissed angrily. The little yelper would wake up the entire neighborhood.

Part of him screamed at himself to get rid of the dog first, and then the man. But he couldn’t do that. He didn’t want to kill if it wasn’t necessary. And it wasn’t.

Moving quickly, Thomas turned away and ran as fast as he could. He heard the dog barking for a long time, his good ears could make it out even several kilometers later, until he finally ran back home through the streets of Munich.

His hands were shaking when he opened his front door. He threw the door shut behind himself forcefully and hurried into the kitchen. Another can -- normally he only needed one every other day. And this was already the third today. Quickly, he ripped it open and let the blood run down his throat. Cool and viscous -- but not enough.

He had been so close! If that damn mutt hadn’t been there, he would have had his teeth in the neck of the man… Quickly he shook his head. Don’t think about that.

He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down. He had just drunk some blood, he should be getting calmer now. Or did the pig blood not have that effect anymore? Did he really need human blood?

“Shit, damn it!” he cursed. Up until now, it had always worked without human blood. Now and then he’d occasionally nibbled on someone, but for years now he’d stuck to animal blood. And it had always worked out, even though something was missing and human blood was just so much better. Especially, when it was still warm and without the chemical preservatives.

Thomas sunk to the ground, leaning his back against the fridge. He didn’t want to hurt any person or kill at all. That’s why he had decided to only drink animal blood. The danger was simply too high that he wouldn’t be able to stop in time if he drank from a human.

A person could lose a half liter without any problem, and even more wouldn’t be a huge one. But if it tasted so good and he fell into a blood lust, which he’d heard about often from others, then he wouldn’t be able to stop with just that half- or full-liter.

Thomas closed his eyes and attempted to relax. He needed to stop thinking about blood, otherwise he would go crazy.

And then he wouldn’t be able to control himself anymore. He thought about the game that afternoon, the win. About the many fans who had cheered for him -- even though he was over 60 years old, that was something that was still worth the aspiration. On the other hand, Jakob was of the opinion that you were always as old as you wanted to be. And he, Thomas, wanted to be 20 years old.

20 and a professional footballer, who only had to think about the next match.

About the success that he had with his team, about the fans that cheered for him by the thousands, ten thousands, who celebrated so unbelievably happily, who had so much life in them… so much blood.

Thomas groaned. Fantastic. He was definitely looking forward to the training. Maybe he should call in sick. He definitely wouldn’t get through it the way he was currently feeling. In a locker room with his colleagues. In a tight space, way to close to sidestep any contact…

The smell of sweat… and what if someone injured himself a little bit? That happened all the time, and normally he didn’t have a huge problem with it. But right now, nothing was normal.

He nodded. He would call in sick. Feign a small cold. Michi would be able to confirm that he already hadn’t been feeling so well after the game. And if Jakob was coming in the evening -- maybe he’d be able to help him somehow. Jakob would certainly know a solution. He just had to!

With those thoughts, he stood up and went into the bathroom. Maybe it would help to shower and wash away all the scents from his body. And then to bed, time had to pass somehow.

He took a hot shower and then laid down in bed naked. He liked the feeling of the cool bed linens on his skin. He closed his eyes, and after a while, he succeeded in shutting off all his thoughts and dozed off.


	3. Unexplainable Thirst

Shortly before his alarm went off, Thomas opened his eyes again. He didn’t actually need the alarm clock, but it was a normalcy that he’d picked up. Besides, it would be conspicuous in the hotel if he never used an alarm. He stretched and slipped out of bed. Should he risk driving to training -- or better not?

He felt a little bit better than yesterday and the burning hunger was also gone. But what would it be like near so many people?

On the other hand, they were all friends and so he would be able to hold himself back -- he hoped. And he also didn’t want to spend the whole day in his house. Training wouldn’t be too exhausting today since they had played yesterday, but it would distract him.

So he stood up, got ready, and left the house. It wasn’t necessary to take any nutrition, after three cans of blood certainly not yet. But aside from blood, he only ate and drank when others were around -- or when he really wanted to.

This time he drove at a civilized pace through the city and got to the training pitch a bit less than half an hour later. Some of his teammates were apparently already there, their cars were in the parking lot, but there was no one in sight at the moment.

He stayed sitting in his car for a minute and took a deep breath. Up to now, he still felt calm. Now he was worried about how he would feel in the locker room. If he felt too bad, then he’d leave training early and shower. Water washed most of the scents away so that he -- or rather the others -- would then be safe.

He forced a small smile and got out of his car. He grabbed his bag out of the trunk, then traipsed slowly to the fence where a few fans were waiting for the players. Exaggeratedly happy, he gave out the desired autographs -- and made sure that he really was in a condition today to maintain being in the company of humans. The fence would protect the fans in an emergency.

Of course he noticed the scent of the people, but he didn’t feel the maddening longing from yesterday. He would be able to get through the training like this, he was sure about that.

Eventually, he waved at the fans once more and disappeared into the inside of the building.

He greeted his teammates, then changed quickly and went outside to warm up. Of course it wasn’t necessary for him to, but anything else would have been too conspicuous, besides it was good to move a little bit.

“Morning Thomas,” Michi, who was already warming up, greeted him. “Feeling better?”

Thomas nodded. “I went to bed early, that helped,” he half-lied for simplicity.

Michi smiled. “You look better too. Even though you’re still quite pale.”

“I’m always pale,” Thomas grinned sheepishly.

“True, but not so much,” Michi said.

Thomas shrugged his shoulders. “I’m ok though.”

Michi nodded, not entirely convinced.

Thomas sighed to himself, then dished up a small story to Michi while they were running of a small cold, which he had gotten under control with home remedies and a few good tips from his mother. His mother, who had been dead since 1982.

“My mother knows home remedies like that too,” Michi laughed. “And apparently they helped you too.”

Thomas laughed, “Sage tea and a hot washcloth?” he asked.

Michi nodded. “But instead of sage tea, it was chamomile for me.”

“Chamomile helps too,” nodded Thomas. “But sage tastes better.”

Michi grimaced. “Not true. Sage is disgusting.”

Thomas just laughed and kept running, he needed to make sure he didn’t talk too much and too openly. Eventually, Michi got a signal from the goalkeeping coach. “Later,” he said and left Thomas.

“Later,” Thomas nodded and ran his last two laps alone, until they presented themselves to the coach.

Training today was mostly made up of regeneration exercises.

After that, there was tactical training on the program, which they did separated by position.

Shortly before the end of the training, Thomas began noticing his teammates stronger.

They smelled enticing, so irresistable. And they were much too close! Luca, Ivica, Miro, and Mario -- they each had their own unique scent. Unconsciously he licked his lips, which suddenly felt raw and chapped.

Miro, somewhat strong. Ivica, like so much life. Luca, like joy and frustration simultaneously. And Mario. He couldn’t quite figure his scent out, but that didn’t make him less interesting or seductive. Quite the opposite!

His gaze slid to Mario, who was listening to their coach’s words with his arms crossed in front of his chest. He licked his lips again.

A couple of strands had freed themselves from Mario’s hairband and hung across his forehead. He kept blowing the hairs out of his eyes annoyed. Doing that, he released more of his scent, which was slowly becoming more intense. Thomas shut out the other three and concentrated solely on Mario.

Sometime, Mario seemed to sense the gaze and turned his head slightly. He smiled at Thomas. Thomas had to swallow hard. Mario was emitting such a damn good scent. He saw Mario rumple his forehead slightly. Carefully, he edged closer to Thomas. “Everything ok?” he asked quietly.

Carefully, Thomas drew a breath. “It’s all going ok. Besides, we should pay attention!”

Mario nodded, but kept considering him critically. “Michi said you didn’t feel so well yesterday.”

“It’s better now,” Thomas shrugged. His air was running out slowly, but if Mario continued to stay so close to him…

“Aha,” Mario grunted. Then he turned around and grabbed a water bottle from the box behind them. “Here,” he pushed it into Thomas’ hand.

Thomas nodded and drank. Water always helped, if only a little bit. Blood would be better, human blood, from Mario.

Mario kept watching him, as if he were afraid that Thomas would fall over at any moment.

Slowly, Thomas lowered the water, but kept it in his hands, concentrating on the acidic smell which was coming from it.

It seemed to take half an eternity for the trainer to finally come to an end. And the whole time, Mario stayed standing near him, watching him sometimes openly and sometimes from the corner of his eye.

Thomas was relieved when he could finally leave the room. But it wouldn’t get much better, he knew that. Lunch together with the team, then a small break and the second training.

He should have stayed at home. Leaving now would just attract questions. He would have to go to the doc, talk to the trainer, and get through all the curious questions of his colleagues.

And again he’d have to make it clear to the doc, with not entirely normal means, that everything was fine with his blood, that he was healthy, and that there was no reason for worry.

“Why are you still standing around here? Aren’t you hungry?”

“Yeah,” Thomas nodded and followed him. He stopped himself before the ‘especially for you.’

“Eat some hot soup and then lie down a bit,” Mario suggested. “Then you’ll definitely feel better. The weather is shitty right now too. It’s easy to catch something.”

Thomas nodded and followed him to the cafeteria. This week, italian dishes were being served, which naturally made Luca especially happy. Thomas enjoyed it too -- but today, everything seemed to be sworn against him. For appetizer, they had carpaccio, raw meat.

Unconsciously, he took a step backwards and almost ran into Mario.

“Thomas? Come with me to the doc, I’m not going to keep watching you like this.”

“No,” spat Thomas and pulled himself free from Mario.

“Thomas,” Mario was noticeably shocked.

Thomas swallowed and took a deep breath. Then he looked Mario straight in the eye. “Everything is just fine.”

You practically fall out of your own shoes, and again just now. Exactly nothing is just fine!”

Thomas bit back a curse. He was too unfocused and Mario’s damn smell kept sneaking into his nose. “Everything is perfectly fine,” he tried again.

Mario wrapped an arm around him. “At least come with me and lay down.”

Sighing, Thomas nodded.

“Then come,” Mario pulled him softly along. “I’ll get you something. Some broth?”

“Broth sounds good,” Thomas muttered and followed Mario out of the dining hall.

Together, they went into one of the rest rooms, the one which was the closest to the cafeteria. Luckily, because Thomas wouldn’t have been able to avoid breathing for much longer.

“So lay down,” Mario said uncompromisingly. “I’ll be back soon.”

Thomas nodded silently and sat down on the sofa which was in one of the sitting corners. As soon as Mario left the room, he jumped up and opened a window.

Cold air stormed in and drove away the sweet scent Mario had left behind.

Quietly, Thomas sighed, he had always felt so good around Mario, why was his sudden appetite crossing that out?

In the meantime, he yearned for the evening to be here and with it Jakob’s arrival. Hopefully he had an explanation for everything here. For him all of a sudden losing control. Sighing, he leaned against the window frame and looked outside.

What if he were to leave now? Run off fast, get some blood, and then come back? Just so that he didn’t have to get through the second training quite as starved. But Mario would be back soon. Even for a person, it didn’t take long to get to the cafeteria and back. And in fact, he heard steps in the hallway a little later. Fast, like only his kind could, he laid back down on the sofa. He closed his eyes. Perhaps he could convince Mario to disappear soon.

“Thomas? I got chicken broth for you,” he heard Mario’s concerned voice.

Smiling, Thomas turned his head to Mario. “Thanks, it’s very nice of you.”

Mario looked at him for a bit then decided, “I’ll go get the doc.”

Lightning fast, Thomas reached out a hand and grabbed Mario’s arm. “It’s nothing Mario. Your concern is really sweet, but I’m already feeling much better.”

“You don’t look like you are. I don’t know how you plan on getting through this afternoon?”

“I’ll drink the broth and sleep a little,” Thomas answered firmly.

Mario nodded unconvinced. “I’ll come back and look in on you.”

Thomas nodded. “Thank you.”

Once Mario had disappeared, Thomas considered the soup. It smelled quite tasty, and he decided to eat it and not dump it out the window. Maybe it would help soften the unexplainable thirst for blood. He was an idiot for not hiding a can in his pack this morning for emergencies. But he couldn’t drive or run home fast now.

It was broad daylight and Mario seemed to have unearthed his protective instincts. He could sense him in any event through the wall in the next room over. Thomas sighed quietly and began spooning his broth into his mouth. It wasn’t bad, although he would prefer it if he could have...spiced it up with a little bit of blood.

He grinned at himself, chicken broth with fresh blood flakes, that would be a dish for a fine dining restaurant. He put the empty bowl back on the table and laid down again, stretched out across the sofa. It didn’t take long before there was a knock on the door -- but it wasn’t Mario that he sensed, rather…

“Yes?” he called.

The door opened, and the doc walked in. “Hello Thomas, Mario said you weren’t feeling well?”

“Mario exaggerated,” Thomas answered and sat up.

The doc nodded. “But you’re lying here, drinking broth cautiously, and are certainly not in any condition to do the second training.”

Thomas suppressed a sigh. “Maybe a small cold. Anyway it’s nothing serious.”

“We’ll see about that,” the doc squatted next to him and began the usual examination -- listen to the heart, measure the blood pressure, check the neck and throat…

When the doctor bent over him, Thomas suddenly was staring spellbound on the jugular which laid so invitingly close in front of him. He could clearly see the warmth coming from it. He just needed to lean forward a bit… Just a tiny bit, then he would be able to sample it. Bore his teeth into the sensitive skin and feel the warm blood on his tongue.

With superhuman strength, he shoved the doc to the side and fled into the opposite corner of the room. He pushed himself against the wall, shaking. His teeth were pushing painfully into his bottom lip. A few drops of blood appeared, stolen blood, with no effect. He tried to calm down, then he concentrated on the doc who was staring at him in disbelief.

He needed to muster all his strength to bore into the man’s thoughts. “Everything is ok,” he whispered almost silently. “You examined me and decided that I have a small cold. I should go home and show up tomorrow morning just like normal to training.”

The doc looked at him somewhat irritatedly, then nodded. “Like I said, rest it out, and take this here,” he handed him a tablet for strengthening the immune system.

“Thanks,” Thomas smiled and took the medicine.

“And if you’re not better tomorrow, then come to me again.”

“Of course,” Thomas nodded dutifully.

“So, get well soon. I’ll tell Mario and the others that you’re leaving now.”

“Until tomorrow,” Thomas said goodbye.

He went into the locker room very slowly, collected his things and then disappeared.

First when he was sitting in his car, did he allow himself to breath a little bit. That had been damn close! So close… he could just keep thinking about how good it was that Jakob was coming that evening. Quickly, he drove off, directly home.


	4. Jakob's Visit

As soon as he had shut his house door behind him, he felt better. He still could hardly believe it. He had almost bitten his team doctor! A doctor! A man in his fifties, thirty years older than him. Or ten younger…

“Fantastic,” he grumbled and went into the kitchen. If he kept up like this, he would need to restock his blood store in a couple of days. He took a can out, thirstily drank it empty, and cleaned it out thoroughly. Then he went into the living room and sat down on the broad sofa. It would definitely take five to six hours for Jakob to finally be here. If it wasn’t an absolute emergency, Jakob only left his house at night.

Sighing, he laid his head back and closed his eyes. He tried to sleep, and although it always worked well for him, he couldn’t do it now. And yet he still was shocked by the noise of the doorbell a while later. He looked at the clock confused. That couldn’t be Jakob.

He sighed, then stood up and opened the door. Mario was standing in front of him. In his hand a bag, which smelled like Chinese food. “Hey. I… wanted to see how you were doing.”

Thomas swallowed. “Hi,” he muttered. “I’ll be fine…”

“Sorry about the doc,” Mario said. “But you looked so bad… I brought something to eat.”

Thomas nodded. “That’s nice of you. I would invite you in, but...I don’t want you to get sick.”

“Eh,” Mario said, “I have a good immune system. And besides, eating alone is dumb.”

“No it’s better if you don’t, I don’t know what I have. And getting sick -- that’s the last thing you need.”

A bit perturbed. Mario looked at him. “You’re mad at me, aren’t you?”

Thomas shook his head immediately. “No, it’s nice how you’re taking care of me.”

“Then let me put my guilt to ease,” Mario requested grinning. “We’ll eat together and I’ll convince myself that you’ll live through the night.”

Thomas gulped, then nodded. Maybe it was best if he reassured Mario.

“Great,” Mario said happily and walked past Thomas into the house. Thomas followed him, got drinks out of the fridge, and plates and cutlery from the cupboard.

“I should greet you from the others,” said Mario, while he unpacked the sack. “And wish you a speedy recovery.”

“Thanks,” Thomas smiled. “How was the rest of training?”

“Cold,” Mario laughed. “And wet. Started raining. You can be happy that you were here in the warmth.” Thomas laughed quietly and sat down opposite Mario at the dining table.

Quickly, Mario opened the three boxes. “Pan-fried noodles, then chicken and vegetables and spicy beef,” he said.

“Split the noodles, and then see?” Thomas suggested. “Or we could share everything?”

“Let’s share everything,” Mario replied. “I wasn’t sure what you like.”

“Oh I’m low-maintenance,” Thomas grinned. “I eat basically everything.”

“Like me,” Mario laughed and took some noodles.

Thomas put the rest on his plate, then they ate silently. Luckily, the food was spiced heavily enough that Thomas couldn’t smell Mario too distinctly. But it was still pure torture to sit here with Mario like this. His gaze kept wandering to that alluring vein in his neck that seemed to cal to him.

“Thomas?” It took a moment for him to be able to react.

“Thomas, what’s wrong?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I’m a bit tired,” he tried to make up an excuse.

Mario nodded. “And I’m talking your ears off. Sorry.”

“No it’s ok. What did you say?”

“I asked about your plans for Christmas,” Mario repeated.

“Oh… I’ll probably go to my parents,” Thomas muttered. That wasn’t completely a lie -- to the farm, where his parents had previously lived. And he’d probably also go to the cemetery.

“Yeah you sound so enthusiastic. Do you not get along?”

Thomas shook his head. “I just sometimes get the feeling that I don’t belong there. It’s a very different world than here…”

“I’m always happy to be able to go home,” Mario said. “Get a bit of distance.”

Thomas shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe the difference is how things are going. Right now, it could hardly get better, and I feel so good here too.”

“Lucky duck,” Mario grinned wryly.

Thomas shrugged his shoulders. “It won’t be any different for you soon.”

“We’ll see,” Mario muttered, noticeably less optimistic.

“Don’t be so negative, then it certainly won’t get better,” Thomas said.

Mario shrugged his shoulders. “Everything’s just a bit...difficult right now.”

Thomas nodded. He could understand that well.

“But I don’t want to complain to you,” Mario said and smiled. “I knew what I was doing when I signed the contract here.”

Thomas nodded, everyone who signed for Bayern knew what he was doing. And was also sure that it things would work out better for him than his predecessors.

“And now enough of this,” Mario said. “Try the beef. It’s really tasty!”

Thomas nodded and tucked in heartily. It was hardly nutrition for him, but he could still enjoy it.

“Then...I’ll leave you alone again,” Mario said when they were finished. “You should probably rest up.”

“You too, give yourself a nice evening.”

“I’ll try,” Mario nodded and stood up.

“See you tomorrow,” Thomas said and let himself be pulled into Mario’s arms unwillingly.

Immediately, Mario’s warmth, his smell surrounded him.

He closed his eyes, holding his breath -- and still couldn’t suppress the feeling. So warm, so sweet, so full of life, pulsing… He could feel the carotid artery against his cheek!

He felt his teeth begin to grow. Did Mario taste as good as he smelled?

Subconsciously, he ran his tongue over his sharp fangs.

He turned his head, so that the tip of his nose touched Mario’s neck.

Mario wanted to push him away -- a friendly hug like this would normally not last any longer than two seconds -- but Thomas didn’t let him. “Thomas, what’s up?” Very carefully, Thomas’ left canine scratched against the thin skin. “Are you not feeling ok?”

With a heavy, fast, and extremely harsh motion, Thomas threw Mario away from him. Mario’s back hit the wall, and he let out a gasp and fell down onto his knees. Thomas closed his eyes and searched for an entrance into Mario’s thoughts.

It was difficult, and he needed two attempts before he finally succeeded. He would have loved to call Mario to him and finish what had started so suddenly. But that was wrong, he couldn’t do that to Mario. “Everything is ok,” he looked at him straight in the eyes. “We had a good dinner, and now you’re going home.”

Somewhat confused, Mario picked himself up and nodded. “Then see you tomorrow.”

“See you then. And thanks for coming.”

Mario smiled and rubbed his neck absentmindedly. “Call me if you need anything.”

“I’ll do that,” Thomas promised and pushed him gently towards the door. With a relieved sigh, he leaned against the door and listened to Mario go to his car. A bit later, he drove off. Shit, that had been so close. It couldn’t continue like this, otherwise there would be sometime when he really did expose himself. And now, he needed to shower. Immediately! He needed to wash Mario’s scent from him.

He ran to the bath and threw himself fully-clothed under the water, nothing, absolutely nothing should remind him more of Mario. He turned the water up hot, as hot as possible, and tried to drive Mario out of his thoughts. Such a sweet, seductive smell… Better than anything that he’d ever smelled before! And it would have been so easy. No one would have noticed anything.

He would have changed Mario’s memory later, and everything would have been fine. But Mario was a teammate. And with Michi and Andi, one of his best friends on the team. He couldn’t bite anyone on the team, and that extended to all friends.

After a while, he left the bath and put fresh clothing on. When he went back in the living room, Jakob was sitting on his couch.

“Oh,” he said, the past forty years hadn’t been enough to get him used to Jakob coming and going as he pleased.

“I didn’t want to...disturb your shower,” said Jakob.

Thomas nodded. “I needed to get rid of his scent,” he explained and wanted to sit down. Then something occurred to him. “Do you want something to eat?” 

Jakob laughed. “I ate on the way,” he said. “And your visitor was…?”

“Tasty. I suspect. I could just barely hold myself together. I don’t bite any friends. Not even Mario.”

“His scent is everywhere,” Jakob said with a sigh. Then he looked at Thomas. “Tell me about your problem.”

Thomas took a deep breath, then he tried to summarize the changes. “I’m hungrier than usual. The cans don’t seem to be satisfying me anymore. Usually I need… two or three a week, now I need three a day. And even with that I’m always hungry. And I want to attack every person that comes across my path. Yesterday Michi and some random dog owner on a trail, today the doc and Mario.”

Jakob listened silently. “Not every vampire can do without human blood forever,” he said quietly.

Thomas shook his head. “I have for forty years, more or less. Only very very rarely...human blood. And none at all for the last twenty years.”

“I’m amazed at your will,” Jakob said dryly. “Then you tell me what’s changed.”

Thomas shrugged his shoulders. “More sport, more success. What else has changed in the past months.”

“It has to be something,” Jakob shook his head. “Something small maybe. Something that you don’t think is important.”

Thomas shrugged again. “A new trainer… I hung a new picture up over there. New blood supplier…”

“Get me some of the blood,” said Jakob. “I doubt that’s what it is but…”

Thomas stood up straightaway and a couple seconds later he was sitting opposite Jakob again with one of the cans of blood from the fridge in his hand.

Jakob opened the can and sniffed at the contents, before emptying it in one gulp.

Then he looked at Thomas. “Pig, with a bit of cow. No human blood, but otherwise...in order.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“Come here,” Jakob asked, “and close your eyes.” Thomas sat next to him and closed his eyes. He felt Jakob lay his cool hands on his temples, and he became very lightheaded immediately. It had been a long time since he’d let someone into his thoughts, that’s why the feeling was horribly unfamiliar. 

After a while, the feeling left him and the hands were gone too. He opened his eyes and looked at Jakob. He wet his lips. “And?”

Jakob shook his head. “A lot of small changes, but none of them should be causing it. Or you don’t see the problem yourself -- I can only see what you do.”

Thomas sighed. “I’m going crazy Jakob.”

“Maybe… let yourself have some once. Human blood. Just to see if that’s what it is.”

“I… don’t want to,” Thomas shook his head.

“You don’t have to kill him. Or her. Just find someone who you find interesting. Have a little bit of fun with them -- and drink a little.”

“I’m...afraid that I won’t be able to stop,” admitted Thomas.

Jakob nodded. “I can’t promise that to anyone. But most of us can. And I’m sure that you can too. Remember that people can survive a lot more than their weak bodies lead us to believe.”

Not entirely convinced, Thomas nodded. “I’ll...try.”

Jakob nodded. “If I knew anything better, I’d tell you immediately.”

“Can you still ask around?” Thomas requested. “Just in case...it doesn’t help.”

“Of course,” promised Jakob.

“Good,” Thomas sighed. “So, I have to go find someone to bite.”

Jakob shrugged his shoulders. “You can also try some other blood too, but I doubt that that’ll help.”

“I’m still not very happy about this solution. What if I keep needing human blood?”

“Maybe you won’t need it constantly, just as...a supplement,” Jakob considered. “There’s a lot of different idiosyncracies.”

“I like my life how it is right now,” Thomas said and pulled his feet up onto the seat of the couch. Tightly, he hugged his legs and laid his head on his knees. “I don’t want to endanger it.”

Jakob sighed. “You can’t change what you are.”

“I know,” said Thomas.

“And if you don’t want to endanger your friends…”

“And if it doesn’t help?”

“What do you mean, if it doesn’t help?” Jakob asked.

“Well, when I keep…” Thomas motioned to his neck. “When I keep wanting to attack everyone in my proximity. What then?”

Jakob looked at him for a long time. “I don’t know. When someone can go without human blood, then usually it’s fine. At least most of the time. In your case…” He shrugged his shoulders. “I’m afraid I can’t say.”

Thomas stayed sitting silently for another moment, then he stood up. “Then I should get it behind me as fast as possible.”

Jakob nodded. “Try it. And I’ll look around and see if I can find something that can explain this. If you’ve been able to go without up till now…”

“Thanks Jakob. And for coming so quickly.”

“Of course, little one,” Jakob smiled at him.

Thomas returned the smile. “Then I’ll be off.”

“Have fun,” Jakob grinned at him. He stayed sitting while Thomas pulled on his jacket and shoes; he would vanish later just like he came.

“See you soon,” Thomas called into the living room, then left the house.


	5. Blood and More

He ran at a normal human pace through the streets, then in the dark park, he picked up the pace. He didn’t have any clear destination in mind. He needed to find someone who was alone, and preferably somewhere where not too many people passed by. For some reason, a little while later he found himself standing in the same place he had been the previous evening.

He closed his eyes and searched through the area. A couple, a group of teenagers… No one alone… wait, over there, he could smell someone very clearly. Alone. Male. He immediately started moving. The smell became more and more intense, and now that he wasn’t suppressing it anymore, he was overwhelmed by the scent, despite still being almost a hundred meters away from the man. Thomas felt the hunger pangs paired with the excitement of finally tasting human blood again.

Like a panther, he slunk towards the man. He was almost twenty-one, and slightly covered in sweat from jogging. He followed the man until he turned down a small, poorly lit side street. Here, he slid from behind him and grabbed him tightly. The blood’s sweet warm smell filled his nose, even before he had bitten in. The man resisted for a moment, until Thomas forced himself into his feelings and whispered to him to stay quiet.

The heady scent took control over his entire body, and Thomas couldn’t stop himself. With the left canine, he ripped the thin skin over the pulsing carotid artery and began sucking. The blood’s taste was overwhelming. Even better than he remembered. He pushed himself up against the man tighter and closed his eyes.

The blood was now running in a thin trickle into his mouth and down his throat and released an unbearable burning. He felt himself breathe heavier and push unconsciously up against the man. He probably would have kept on going forever, but a noise jolted him. A quiet groan from the man, who turned his head, which dislodged Thomas’ teeth, and kissed him.

Thomas didn’t think about it, just returned the kiss. That had also been a while. He had always been too afraid he’d be discovered. And besides, from the blood, from the prickling life which he felt because of it, he was more aroused than he’d been in ages. And it seemed to be the same story for the man.

Thomas allowed the man to completely turn and wrap his arms around him. The small wound on his neck was already healed, that always happened quickly. Thomas pulled him tightly to himself and kissed him passionately. The man groaned again lustfully.

“Come… to mine,” he asked hoarsely after another kiss. Thomas nodded and grabbed the man’s hand. He knew that he lived in an apartment very nearby. The man didn’t act surprised when Thomas went in the correct direction. A couple of minutes later, they entered the small two-room-apartment on the third floor of the complex. The name on the doorbell was Lars Meyer.

Immediately, Thomas pushed Lars against the wall by the door and kissed him again, hot and passionate. He couldn’t hold himself back, and Lars seemed to want it too. Warm, almost glowing hot hands thrust themselves under Thomas’ jacket and shirt.

Thomas gasped again and pushed himself tighter up against Lars. He kissed him once more, then let his lips glide to the seductive neck artery. He licked it once, then couldn’t think anymore and bit in again.

The blood seemed to increase the feelings, the arousal even more. He drank from the thin stream that ran hot and full of life into his throat, then he couldn’t hold himself back anymore. He tore the clothing off Lars’ body.

Lars groaned and pressed himself against Thomas. He didn’t even seem to notice the ripping of his articles of clothing. Thomas pulled his pants down, turned Lars, pushed him against the wall, and quickly entered him.

The hot closeness enveloped him and he released a hoarse growl. Lars gasped too and pushed himself backwards towards him. Thomas’ hand roved over Lars’ chest while he sunk his teeth in Lars’ shoulder.

Some blood welled out, not much since he hadn’t hit a vein, but enough to maintain the buzz from the blood. Harder and harder he thrust into Lars’ willing body. He could sense that he wouldn’t be able to hold it back much longer.

He sucked once more on the wound on Lars’ shoulder, then grabbed him around his hot body and touched him. That was enough to make Lars come heavily. Thomas let out a soft cry as the tightness around his cock strengthened, then he came too. He licked the small wound once to close it up, and then pulled himself out of Lars.

Breathing heavily, Lars leaned up against the wall with closed eyes. “Wow,” he whispered after a while, hoarse and completely overwhelmed.

Thomas licked his lips and nodded. “Wow” was a fitting description for what had just happened. It only took a second before Lars turned to him, kissed him once more passionately then looked at him somewhat confused. “Who… how…?”

Quickly, Thomas entered Lars’ feelings. “Go to bed. Nothing happened,” he whispered.

Lars looked at him for a while. “Do you want to stick around, or do you have to leave?”

A bit unsure, Thomas shook his head. “I...have an early start tomorrow.”

Lars nodded, a bit disappointed. “Can I at least offer you something to drink?”

Thomas suppressed a grin. He already had drunk, and better than he had in a long time. “Ok,” he said.

“Then… if you want, go to the bath first… Over there… the living room is there…” Lars pointed to two doors.

Thomas nodded and went directly to the bathroom. There, he pulled the door behind him and leaned back against it. That had been...unexpected. Was that what he had been missing? And why so suddenly? The last time he’d drunk human blood, it hadn’t been like that. Of course, the taste had been breathtaking then too, but… the lust, the arousal were new.

Instead of those, he’d had huge difficulties not killing the people back then, not drinking too much. That hadn’t been a problem at all this time. Thomas couldn’t tell exactly how much he’d drunk, but it certainly hadn’t been much. And it still seemed to have been enough. He felt good. Better than he had for days.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then he undressed and showered quickly. He had to free himself from a few flecks of blood. He didn’t stay under the water for long, but hurried. Lars would definitely want to shower too.

When he got out of the bath, Lars came out of the kitchen. Not entirely accidentally -- he obviously had been waiting behind the door. “I set something out for you,” he nodded quickly to Thomas.

“Thanks,” Thomas smiled at him.

He sat down in the living room, poured some of the water out, and set it up so it looked like he had drunk from it. He didn’t want to get lose the precious taste of blood. For a minute, he leaned back and listened to the sound of the shower from the bathroom.

He finally felt calm, like he hadn’t in ages. Not since weeks, even months. Was that simply because he had drunk human blood? Or the sex?

The sound of the water stopped, and he heard Lars leave the bathroom and disappear into the bedroom briefly. He came into the living room a bit later with new clothes. “Hey,” Lars smiled at him and sat next to him on the sofa, but with a bit of separation.

Thomas considered him for a moment, then he smiled too, even though it was more than a bit unsure. What should happen now? He had slept with the guy. But on the other hand, they didn’t have anything to do with each other. They didn’t know each other at all. And even if Lars looked very nice, Thomas didn’t want to deepen the contact more. He’d gotten what he wanted, as harsh as that sounded.

Besides, Lars also had gotten something out of it, so Thomas didn’t need to have a guilty conscience about everything.

“Well, I’ll be off,” Thomas said eventually.

Lars nodded. “Will we… do we want to do it again sometime?”

Noncommittally, Thomas shrugged his shoulders. “You can give me your number.”

Lars nodded, casually grabbed a pen and paper, and wrote his number down quickly. Then he pressed the note into Thomas’ hand.

Thomas smiled and shoved it into his pants pocket. Then he stood up. “I’ll be in touch,” he promised.

Lars stood up too and saw him to the door. A fast hug, a hasty kiss, and then Thomas vanished out of the apartment. He felt Lars watching him as he went down the stairs.

Down on the street, Thomas took a deep breath. He still had the taste of Lars’ blood on his tongue. Good, arousing, sensuous, inviting. What wouldn’t he do to get this taste and this lively feeling again and again?

Sighing, he shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. Exactly what he had been afraid of had now happened. He doubted that animal blood would keep on satisfying him.

Slowly he went back, nothing was pulling him back to his empty, dead house. For the first time in years, he cursed the fact that he didn’t have anyone. But he had forbidden himself strictly to develop feelings past friendship for humans up till now.

He would call Jakob, he decided, and tell him the result of his...attempt. Nodding, he picked up his pace, and closed his front door behind him not long after.

Soon after that, he sat down on his sofa, pulled his phone out of his pocket, and dialed Jakob’s number. “Hello Thomas,” he was greeted immediately.

“Jakob, hi,” Thomas smiled. “I’m back home…”

“And? How are you?”

“I don’t know,” Thomas admitted. “No more hunger. And it was… interesting. I’ve never experienced something like that before. But...I’m afraid that I’m going to need it forever. How am I supposed to keep taking that from humans?”

Jakob was silent for a moment. “There are...some of us who seek out a human partner. You don’t need human blood as often as animal blood, and a person can recuperate in that time. Others wander cities and search out a new human every time.”

“But why all of a sudden? Up til now, I’ve only had human blood so seldom and never needed it. And all of a sudden…”

“Every vampire develops at a different rate, Thomas,” Jakob explained. “It’s like with humans. You’ll notice that your strengths will also develop when you have human blood regularly.”

Thomas nodded, even though Jakob couldn’t see that. “But...do I need it now forever?”

“I don’t know, little one,” answered Jakob quietly. “You’ll have to try it out.”

Quietly, Thomas sighed, he had hoped for a different response. “I’m going to keep trying to go on without any, although… it was… unexpected…” he muttered, and felt that he would have turned bright red -- if he were still alive. Jakob laughed quietly.

“Why are you laughing?” asked Thomas, but had to grin himself.

“I’ll take it wasn’t an… unpleasant experience,” Jakob chuckled.

Thomas had to giggle quietly himself. “It was...very comfortable in fact.” Jakob laughed again, too.

“Like I said, I’ve never experienced something like that…”

“And you think that you can keep going without it in the future?”

Quietly, Thomas sighed. “I have to. I can’t go out every evening and find someone to rip into… and suck out.”

“No, but like I said, there’s the option that you find a partner,” Jakob said.

“Sure like...a cow to milk,” Thomas scoffed. “I can’t do that, I can’t do that to anyone!”

Jakob sighed. “Think about it Thomas. That’s the simplest option. And you saw that it’s not bad for your partner either.”

“How...how do you do it?” Thomas posed the question quietly that he hadn’t trusted himself to before. He didn’t even know exactly if Jakob animal or human blood drank.

Jakob was quiet for some time. “I had a partner, a long time ago. After her death, I decided to not connect myself so strongly to a human again. It...makes you vulnerable.”

Thomas nodded, it was hard enough to outlive his friends. He already had seen several friends to their graves, and parts of his family. In ten or twenty more years, there would be hardly anyone left from his time.

“There are some vampires who have killed themselves after the death of their partners,” Jakob continued. “And others that change them. But many, most of them, manage to keep some distance and not let in any feelings for the humans.”

Thomas shook his head. “I can’t do that. Good, Lars today… that was… that wasn’t closeness just… blood and lust. But my friends, Michi and Mario and the others…”

“It’s your choice. I just showed you the possibilities.”

Thomas nodded. “I know, and thank you for that.”

“If you have more questions… you know how to reach me.”

“I know. I… I have a lot to think about now.”

“Talk to you later Thomas,” Jakob said.

“Later.” Thomas stared at his phone for a while before he eventually hung up himself. He leaned his head against the back of the sofa. It had been a long day, and the thoughts in his head were whirling around freely.

That morning with training, then the training and the lunch afterwards when he could just barely pull himself together again. Yes, and then Lars. Subconsciously, he licked his lips. He still had Lars’ taste in his mouth. It had been so good, and released this burning thirst so comfortably, and also...the sex had been fantastic.

It was the combination of blood and sex, Thomas knew, that was so unbelievable. He feared that he wouldn’t be able to be free from that combination ever. So what then? He couldn’t and didn’t want to run through the streets and hope to find someone for the night.

No, he would try to do without. Without human blood. He had been able to before after all. Yes, that’s exactly what he would do. Suppress the memories of Lars and keep his fingers off of people.

With this decision, he put himself under the shower again to get rid of Lars’ scent a little bit, then crawled into bed. It was a bit after three, so he would need to stand up again soon, but since he didn’t need any sleep, it didn’t bother him much.

That was one of the advantages of his kind -- many things humans had to do were possible for him, but not necessary. Like eating and sleeping. But still, he envied them sometimes. They could live more open, didn’t need to hide themselves away. Didn’t need to make sure they didn’t nibble on their fellow people or suck them out. Or come off as different. And they didn’t outlive all of their friends.

Thomas sighed and pushed his thoughts to the side. He’d brooded enough for today. He would simply stop thinking about everything for a couple of hours and then continue on with his life normally. He couldn’t change anything. A few seconds later, he had fallen asleep.


	6. A Luncheon

At 8 am sharp, he woke up again and got ready for training. He felt remarkably good, calm and at content. But he still remembered to hide a can of blood from his stash in his bag before he drove off.

But contrary to expectations, the blood didn’t interest him, he was still well sated in the afternoon, and even the rare steaks for lunch didn’t pique his interest.

“You’re feeling better,” Mario declared after lunch.

“Yeah, I slept for a long time yesterday, that helped.”

“Nice,” Mario nodded. With that, the topic was finished, and they chatted about other things.

After the break, they had a second training on the docket. Like usual, Thomas had no problems with fitness, but somehow everything was even easier for him today. And the trainer seemed to notice that too, since he praised him more than once. He felt simply good, Thomas smiled.

“Do you want to give me some of your energy?” Mario asked, when they went side-by-side to the locker room. Thomas grinned somewhat sheepishly, everything seemed to have turned around.

“Do you want to do something this evening?” Mario asked.

Thomas considered it briefly, but he still felt so good and lively, that he hopefully wouldn’t be any danger to Mario. It seemed especially awful to Thomas to influence his thoughts.

“If you have something else planned, it’s ok,” Mario said when he didn’t get an answer. “I… don’t want to force myself on you or anything.”

“No I was just thinking about it, but I don’t have anything planned until tomorrow.”

“That’s great,” Mario smiled.

“Have you already thought of something to do?”

Mario shook his head. “No idea. Maybe we could go see a movie?”

Thomas nodded. “Sounds good. Do you already have one you want to see, or do we want to look when we get there?”

“I have a newspaper in my locker, the schedule should be in there,” Mario said.

“Then let’s look now,” Thomas suggested.

Mario nodded and walked into the locker room in front of Thomas.

He dug the newspaper out, and they looked through the schedule together. “This one here sounds good, “Friday the 13th,” the new version. Or here, “Thirst,” a vampire film.”

Thomas choked back a laugh. “Let’s go to the vampire movie.”

Mario nodded. “That’s the one I was leaning towards too. It’s on at 8:20, should I order tickets now?”

“Sure,” Thomas nodded.

Mario grabbed his phone, and a short while later, they had their tickets reserved.

“Good, now to the shower we go,” Thomas laughed. “They certainly won’t let us in like this.”

“You don’t think so,” Mario laughed. “But vampires aren’t exactly squeaky clean when they come out of their crypts!”

“You think?” Thomas asked.

“Have you ever seen a shower in a crypt?” Mario laughed.

Thomas grinned. “Dunno. I’ve never been in one.”

Mario laughed again, and pulled Thomas into the shower.

They found two shower heads next to each other. “If I were a vampire, I’d just find a victim with a nice shower,” Mario said with a wink.

Thomas laughed. “What, so you could shower after you got done sucking their blood?”

“Of course,” Mario nodded.

“Good plan,” Thomas grinned, and being honest with himself, he’d done the exact same thing the evening before.

When they were done showering, they went back into the locker room together.

Quickly, they got dressed. “Do we want to get something to eat before it starts?” Mario suggested.

“Sure,” Thomas nodded.

“What do you want?” Mario wanted to know.

Thomas shrugged his shoulders. “Doesn’t matter. You pick.”

“Italian? Some nice pasta?” Mario suggested.

Thomas grinned and nodded. “Italian’s always good.”

Mario nodded. “I don’t want to always bother you with Spanish. So, to Giuseppe?”

“Where else?” Thomas laughed.

Mario simply nodded. He grabbed his bag and followed Thomas outside.

“Do you want to ride with me?” Thomas invited.

Mario hesitated. “Will you drop me off here again? Otherwise I won’t get home.”

Thomas nodded. “Or I’ll drive you home.”

“Ok,” Mario nodded and went to Thomas’ car.

Thomas unlocked the car and they stowed their bags in the trunk. Then he drove to Giuseppe, where they’d eaten fairly frequently. They found a comfortable table in a corner and ordered drinks.

They chatted animatedly until their pasta dishes came. Then they ate ravenously, and the conversation eased into silence. More precisely, Mario ate ravenously, and Thomas pretended to. While he was pretending that he was eating completely famished, he began to think about the previous day again. He had become a bit more calm, his body had gotten used to the fresh human blood, and the vibration inside him had also stopped. He missed the feeling a little bit already. He hadn’t felt so...alive in so long. Would that always be the case? That he needed human blood? And was the rest, the sex, also part of it?

Just thinking about drinking the refrigerated animal blood made him want to shudder. It was missing so much -- freshness, life, tingles, humanity… He let out a deep sigh. Maybe he shouldn’t have listened to Jakob’s suggestion straight away. Maybe then, the lust for human blood would have disappeared by itself. But now he’d already got the taste of it, and in such an indescribably seductive way!

“Thomas?” A warm hand rested on his wrist for a second.

“Hm?” Thomas said.

“You just sighed really deeply,” Mario said. “Are you having...problems or something?”

“No, it’s fine,” Thomas shook his head.

“You sure?” Mario asked.

“Of course,” Thomas nodded and was about to make thing a bit...clearer for Mario. But to influence friends? He didn’t want to that. Up to now, he’d never had to, and he didn’t want to either.

“Ok,” Mario said, rather unconvinced. “But you can talk to me, if you want.”

“I know,” Thomas nodded. And he could talk with Mario about a lot. Just not about this. He couldn’t talk to anyone about this except for Jakob. He was happy to know the old vampire. Shortly after he was changed, Jakob had showed up and taken him under his wing.

The man who had transfigured him had vanished and left him behind alone. Without knowledge, without nutrition, without everything. He had laid around in his bed, and no one knew what was wrong with him. He had gotten weaker and weaker, hadn’t been able to bear sunshine, and couldn’t keep any human food down.

His parents had been very concerned, but no doctor could help him. He would have did if Jakob hadn’t suddenly appeared. He had claimed he was a doctor, a specialist. He had cared for the boy who couldn’t leave his bed anymore because he had gotten so weak. He had examined him extensively -- and then given him a syringe with a dark-red liquid. And the Jakob had taken him. He told his parents that only an immediate change of climate could help him.

Only for a few short days. His parents had hesitated, but they had seen that the syringe had already helped. He traveled with Jakob to the coast. There, Jakob explained everything to him. Tought him the rules -- and went with him hunting.

“Thomas?”

“Hm?” he looked up.

Mario looked at him concerned. “Something’s not right with you.”

Thomas shook his head again. “No, everything’s fine.”

“You’ve been staring off into space for minutes,” Mario shook his head. “And then yesterday.”

“Yesterday? I wasn’t feeling very well.”

“And today in training, you could hardly be held back,” Mario said. He looked at Thomas skeptically. “You...you’re not taking anything are you?”

“What? No, no way! Absolutely not!”

Relieved, Mario nodded. “I didn’t really think you were but...you’re so strange lately.”

“Everything’s a bit topsy-turvy right now,” Thomas said. “I’ve been playing regional league for so long -- and then Champions League.”

Mario raised an eyebrow. “And? You’ve always dreamed of that haven’t you?”

“Yeah of course. And it’s also really great. But it’s changed so much. I mean, I’m giving autographs!”

Mario laughed out loud. “Yeah and you even have fans. A bunch, if I judge correctly.”

Thomas grinned. “It was weird for you too wasn’t it?”

“Oh yeah,” Mario nodded. “But for me, it started at Stuttgart, and not the great FC Bayern. Everything here’s an extra dimension.”

“See? Sometimes all of it makes you...pensieve.”

“But you’ve been playing for quite a while now Thomas,” Mario said. “Before your first match with the national team, you’re allowed to be nervous again, but not before.”

“It’s not even nervousness. But...it’s just slowly coming to me that I really play for Bayern in the Bundesliga.” And that wasn’t a complete lie, his success really had surprised him.

“Enjoy it,” Mario said. “Don’t dwell so much.”

Thomas smiled. “I’ll try.”

“Very good,” Mario nodded, satisfied.

“And now we eat, or else it’ll get cold,” Thomas said and started eating again.

Mario laughed quietly and began eating again too.

After a while, they finished, paid, and drove to the movie theatre.


	7. Vampires in Movies and Reality

They picked up their pre-ordered tickets at the box office. “Pop and popcorn?” Mario asked. Thomas nodded immediately. He’d always eaten popcorn happily, even earlier, before...it happened. “Then let’s go,” Mario grinned and got in line.

It didn’t take long before he was holding two cups and a large sack of popcorn in his arms. Thomas took one of the cups quickly and snarfed a handful of popcorn. “Tasty,” he grinned.

“Ey, no nibbling yet!”

“Why not?” Thomas asked.

“Because we’re not sitting in the theatre yet!”

“But it’s so warm and fresh now,” Thomas said.

“Hm,” Mario said. “Ok, then eat.”

Thomas laughed and shoved some of the popcorn into his mouth enjoyably. Soon thereafter, they were sitting in the movie hall eating the popcorn.

It got dark and the first advertisements started running on the big screen. They amused themselves with the ads and ate the last of the popcorn, whereafter Mario groaned that he didn’t feel good. “You poor thing,” Thomas grinned with pretend sympathy. “That you always have to be so greedy.”

“You ate just as much as I did,” protested Mario.

“But am I groaning about here?”

“Why don’t you feel sick?”

“Because you apparently did eat more than I did,” Thomas shrugged his shoulders.

Mario nodded slightly. “Apparently. Or you have a horse’s stomach.”

Thomas just grinned. He couldn’t exactly tell Mario the truth. Before he could say something, the lights were dimmed completely and the movie began. Relaxed, Thomas leaned back. He enjoyed watching vampire movies and amused himself to no end with the scriptwriters’ sometimes hair-raising fantasies.

Besides, there always were awesome special effects worked in, vampires falling into dust (he just got hellish headaches when he was in direct sun), garlic allergies (there was hardly anything tastier than spaghetti aglio olio), or bat wings (he definitely would have like having those).

Even the stuff with crosses was complete nonsense and he didn’t need to sleep in a coffin. Quite the opposite, he thought that would be rather uncomfortable -- he was somewhat restless in bed and needed more room. The only thing that he had in common with the movie vampires was the thirst for blood and the increased strength that they sometimes got. He didn’t even get the fabled beauty…

Still, he was happy to not be like the movie vampires. His life was much simpler. He could move completely freely and wasn’t a dangerous beast. Most of the time anyway… No, yesterday he hadn’t been a beast. He hadn’t killed Lars or horribly tortured him. He had just drunk a bit of blood and had a bit of fun. And Lars had enjoyed it too, he had felt that. And wouldn’t have anything against a repeat.

But Thomas didn’t want that. He didn’t want a human slave who he got blood and sex from whenever he wanted. Someone who probably couldn’t decide freely for or against him. And with that thought, he was back at the beginning of his musing. He couldn’t bite a human, but also couldn’t do without their blood. Maybe he should break into the Red Cross, he snorted.

“What’s up?” Mario asked quietly and leaned closer to him.

“Look at how he’s ripping her up. That’s completely illogical,” Thomas nodded at the screen.

“It’s a vampire movie, everything’s illogical,” Mario shrugged his shoulders.

“You think?” Thomas asked.

“Course. Or what, do you think vampires exist in reality?”

Thomas laughed out loud. “No, don’t be ridiculous. But a bit of logic would still help these sorts of movies.”

“I usually don’t think much into these movies,” Mario grinned.

“Seems to be a common problem for me,” Thomas muttered and went back to paying attention to the movie.

Mario looked at him for a moment, then stroked his arm once. “Try to block it out.”

Thomas nodded and closed his eyes briefly. It was good to have friends who care about you. Who were there for you. But would Mario still be there for him if he found out? If he found out that he drank blood? And not just any blood… human blood.

Thomas swallowed hard, recalling the moment when he was just a breath away from drinking from Mario. Mario must taste great, with all of the energy and temperament that he had inside. Just the smell alone was incomparable. Damn it, he shouldn’t think about how it would be like to suck his best friend dry!

And yet he couldn’t do anything else. His thoughts rambled to Lars and he asked himself if things would have ended similarly with Mario. So passionate and hot. So sweet in his throat. And… with a surviving victim. Would he also have been able to just stop with Mario? Carefully, he glanced to the side and watched Mario. He looked good with his well-marked facial features and his stunningly beautiful blue eyes.

Even here in the dark of the theatre they appeared to almost glow. Thomas’ gaze wandered to Mario’s lips which were slightly open and then lower. He could see the heat coming from his carotid artery. It would be so easy to lean into him and pierce through the thin skin. To rip into it so quickly with a canine… He felt his two teeth start growing.

“Thomas? Is something wrong?” Mario asked then. Thomas jumped and looked at Mario.

Mario laughed quietly. “You were staring off into space again.” Thomas nodded, hopefully Mario hadn’t noticed where he was staring!

“What were you thinking about this time?” Thomas could only shake his head, his teeth were still sticking out and he couldn’t show that to Mario. “Hey,” Mario said and laid his hand on Thomas’ arm again. “So bad?”

Thomas looked down. “It’s fine,” he muttered.

“It’s certainly not if you can’t even block it out.”

“It’s already getting better,” Thomas said and concentrated fully on not lisping because of his teeth.

“Are you lovesick?” Mario asked.

“Hm...no,” Thomas shook his head.

“Then what is it?”

Thomas shrugged. “I would tell you if I knew…”

Mario sighed deeply. A pointed hiss near them reminded them to pay attention to the movie again. Thomas wasn’t really concentrating anymore, mostly because of Mario’s nearness which he could sense all too clearly. The closeness, the warmth, and blatantly, his smell.

After another agonizing half hour, the movie finally finished and the lights slowly turned back on. Thomas hadn’t been able to take in most of the end, but enough to know that the screenwriter had no clue about him and his kind.

“Thomas, I’m starting to really worry about you,” Mario said quietly.

“You don’t need to,” Thomas contradicted. “Really -- everything’s fine.”

“I don’t believe that,” Mario declared. “I...is it maybe because of me?”

“Why should it be?”

“No idea, but it has to be something,” Mario said.

Thomas shrugged his shoulders. “If I don’t even know…”

“Sometimes it helps to talk with friends,” Mario persisted.

“If only I knew…” Thomas muttered and pulled his legs in, because someone wanted to go past. In that moment, the young man looked up and recognized Mario.

Thomas groaned inwardly. He had no desire to deal with that this evening. Luckily, they were satisfied with just a few quick autographs and didn’t tell the whole theatre who they’d just met.

“We had better leave before more people recognize us,” Mario grinned wryly. Thomas nodded, grabbed his jacket quickly, and properly fled out of the movie hall. Mario followed him and had to almost run to keep up with Thomas’ stride.

Thomas didn’t slow down until they were quite a bit away from theatre -- and realized then that he had been running too fast.

“Damn it Thomas,” Mario gasped.

“What’s up?” Thomas asked, and only remembered after that that he should also be out of breath.

“You…” Mario steadied himself with a hand against the wall next to him. “That… what was that?”

“What was what?” Thomas gasped back.

“You… ran… as if the devil… was behind you.”

“I just didn’t want to spend the whole evening giving autographs,” explained Thomas, breathing heavily.

Mario nodded, but eyed him penetratingly. “You… were damn fast…”

Thomas shrugged. “You were slow…”

“No,” Mario said clearly. “If I had been slow, I would only have seen your dust cloud.”

“Don’t eat so much popcorn next time,” Thomas advised him.

Mario didn’t seem convinced. “If you think so…”

“What else should it be?” Thomas asked. In his experiences, questions like that tended to end most of the nosy questions.

“You explain it to me,” Mario demanded.

Thomas closed his eyes, how easy would it be to simply explain to Mario that it hadn’t been anything. But he couldn’t do that! Mario took a step closer to Thomas and looked at him expectantly. Thomas swallowed, he needed to seriously concentrate to keep his teeth from growing again.

“What is wrong with you Thomas?” Mario asked urgently and grabbed Thomas’ shoulders with his hands.

Thomas shrugged his shoulders. “You’re making stuff up where there’s nothing!”

“I don’t believe that,” Mario said with a sigh.

“You do. What else is this then? Yesterday I wasn’t feeling well, today it’s better. Great, go get a psychologist, that’s not normal!”

Mario shrunk a step back subconsciously. “Yesterday, you felt so shitty that you had to go home early. You looked like the living death. And today? Today you barely broke out into a sweat during training, and tore out of the theatre in a way that any sprinter would be jealous of you.”

“I recovered, that’s all,” Thomas shrugged and cursed himself for letting himself go so much. “Besides, I usually barely sweat.”

“You’ve been lost in your thoughts constantly,” Mario continued. “And you were staring at me in the theatre like… I have no idea but it was strange.”

“I just was thinking, I had no idea that you’d react so sensitively.”

“And what exactly were you thinking about that made you look at me as if you wanted to hook up with me?”

Thomas laughed quietly. “Hook up is good, but I wasn’t thinking about you, but about the sweetie waiting for me at home.”

“Oh really? You’re watching a horror movie with a friend, stare at me, and think about some girl?” Mario asked.

Thomas shrugged his shoulders. “Study psychology, but leave me out of your ambitions,” he snorted.

Mario looked at him for another minute, then shook his head. “I barely recognize you anymore Thomas.”

Thomas looked at him for a long time quietly. “Well I can’t help you with that,” he muttered and then turned heel.

“Come on Thomas, we’ve always been able to talk about everything up to now,” Mario tried once more. “You… helped me here so much when I came from Stuttgart.”

Thomas shook his head and left.

Mario stayed standing for quite some time, then turned around and went in the other direction. There was a taxi stand at the corner, he knew that.

He didn’t notice that Thomas went home on foot, to his house which was several kilometers away.


	8. Senegal

He opened his front door and threw it shut with a bang.

Damn it, had he just thrown out his best friend? Just because he had been so inattentive? Because he didn’t have himself under control anymore and only thought about blood? Was that what happened when he drank human blood? Would he really have to give up his life now? Retreat from people, like Jakob and the others?

He sank to the floor and buried his face in his hands. He didn’t want that, couldn’t do that. If he hadn’t ever found that damn Lars! If he had never actually experienced how good human blood was -- connected with sex! And if it weren’t Mario of all people to exercise an allure over him.

His best friend who was so worried about him right now! With one hand, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Jakob’s number as if he were in a trance.

“Hey little one, what happened?” he answered straight away.

“I...fucked up,” Thomas whispered and told Jakob about the evening. “I never should have drunk human blood.”

“Do you really think that’s what caused this? You were feeling bad even before you had had any.”

“What else should be causing it then?”

“Even though we’re not alive anymore, we still are maturing. When I found you, you were 18, with the body and mind of an 18-year-old. Now you’ve changed a bit.”

“And?” Thomas asked. “What does that mean now? That i’m an asshole who treats his best friend like shit?”

“That you can’t make heads or tails of your new situation,” Jakob explained softly.

“What should I do, Jakob?”

He heard his old friend sigh. “I can’t give you a magic cure. Work out a reason for why you could have changed. Be sick for a couple of days, that works with people for a lot of different things. And then… pay better attention to what you do. Something like this has never happened to you before either.”

“Then I didn’t know how good it was though,” Thomas muttered and leaned his head against the wall. “Or how good Mario smells…”

“Don’t worry too much. You can’t change it -- just as little as you can change what you are.”

“I… just don’t want to give up everything here,” Thomas whispered.

Jakob hesitated. “I don’t think that you have to give it all up. Those of us who live amongst people came to their decision completely on their own. I don’t know any magic cure but -- you will find your own cure.”

Thomas sighed. “So I should… stay home a couple of days until everything calms down.”

“Especially until you have calmed down again, little one,” he heard Jakob quietly.

“Ok… thank you Jakob.”

“Call me and tell me what’s going on,” Jakob requested.

“Will do,” Thomas promised.

Quickly, Jakob said good bye and left Thomas alone with his thoughts and cares. Sighing, Thomas stood up from the floor and went to the living room. He was feeling bad, really shitty. He had almost nibbled on his best friend and didn’t know if that desire would ever go away.

And besides that, he had fought with Mario, that was also bothering him. He wasn’t exactly an argumentative person and Mario hadn’t meant anything meanly. Quite the contrary, Mario was worried about him. But what else was he supposed to do? Stay away from Mario? He couldn’t and didn’t want to do that. Tell him the truth? No way! Mario would think that he was crazy. Besides, it would still be dangerous -- not many humans knew about his kind and for good reasons. No, he couldn’t let Mario in on the secret.

Despite everything, he grabbed his phone again. At the very least, he wanted to apologize to Mario in a quick text. [Hi Mario, sorry that I went off on you like that. I’m feeling really bad again, I think it’s turning into a proper cold. All the best, Thomas], he wrote quickly.

Tomorrow morning he would officially call in sick to his trainer. Jakob was right and a few days of calm would sort out some things. He would simply vanish a bit from here. To his hometown, where his nephew still ran his parents’ farm. Maybe after that, everything would be ok again.

Thomas nodded and stood up. Quickly, he threw some things into his backpack and then head off. It was shortly after 12, so we would get to his family’s farm before sunrise without a problem. He had run the stretch quite frequently, and that usually helped him forget most stress and frustration.

This time it only sort of worked. On one hand, it was very good to run, but he couldn’t shove his thoughts about Mario and his whole situation to one side. When he arrived shortly before five, he fest comfortably worn out -- that happened to him sometimes too -- but his thoughts were circling around at least as wild as they were in Munich. It was still dark in the house, even if it wouldn’t be long now before the first inhabitants would be waking up. After all, the cows needed to be milked and the children brought to school.

Slowly, he walked down the path towards the house, which ran past the horse stables. Like always, the animals got restless when they sensed him, and it took him a while to calm them back down again.

He had loved horses since his early childhood. Unfortunately, since his transformation hardly any horse would stay in his presence for very long. The animals sensed that something wasn’t right with him. Only a few of his nephew’s animals let him near them, and he walked up to one of those animals now: a remarkably average-looking gelding named Senegal.

He raised one hand and pet the horse’s neck gently. Its nostrils flared, then the animal edged its long head towards Thomas. Smiling, Thomas continued to pet the horse. Like always, he moved very slowly, it wasn’t easy even for Senegal to be around such a strange being. After a while, the horse began rubbing its nose on Thomas’ jacket.

“That’s good, huh?” Thomas whispered and began scratching Senegal between his ears. The animal snorted quietly. “You have it so good here, you know?” Thomas murmured. Senegal pushed his nose nearer again, as if he knew that Thomas needed some comfort right now.

“I didn’t want to hurt him,” Thomas muttered. “But I can’t tell him what I am. He… would hate me. If I could even get him to believe me in the first place.” Senegal snorted quietly again.

Thomas suppressed a sigh and leaned his forehead against Senegal’s throat. The horse let him and stood very still. He didn’t know how long he stood there. The closeness to the animal helped him calm down a little bit.

Sometime he heard someone walking across the farm. He straightened up and took a step to the side into darker shadows. Quietly, the stable door opened. Carefully, Thomas reached out for the thoughts of the person to find out who was awake so early.

Then a smile spread across his face. It was Michael, his nephew. Slowly he walked out of the shadows and went towards Michael. Simultaneously, he eased his thoughts a little bit, they had fought each other years ago because Thomas had scared him too badly.

“Good morning Michael,” he said quietly.

Only a bit surprised, he turned around. “Thomas, hi,” he greeted him happily. He had grown out of the “Uncle Thomas” years ago. It would have been very strange anyway. After all, Michael was now over 30 and so officially 10 years older than Thomas. Thomas walked towards him with a somewhat-forced smile and hugged him.

“How are you?”

“Everything’s fine,” Michael said, “but it’s nice that you’re back here again.”

“It’s been too long since I was here,” Thomas agreed.

“Are you going straight up to the house, or do you want to wait for me? Ankala could pop any day now, I wanted to check up on her.”

Thomas hesitated. “I’ll come with you,” he said then.

Michael nodded and went to a somewhat removed stall. Thomas followed him. He had been around horse births often, but since his transformation, he always stayed in the background. He made the animals too nervous. So he stayed in the aisle and tried to calm the animal a bit from there.

If his life had gone differently, it could have been him who was kneeling in the hay in Michael’s place. He would have been the heir to the farm as the oldest son, traditionally. But the bite had eliminated that possibility -- and his younger brother and family had taken over the farm. He was now just a welcome guest.

Michael straightened up and came out of the stall. “I think it’ll take another couple of hours still,” he said to Thomas.

Thomas nodded and smiled at him. “And then you’ll have one more horse.”

“The kids are so excited about the foal already,” Michael smiled back. “For the last one, they were still too small to really experience it.”

“And you’re happy too,” Thomas grinned and laid his hand on Michael’s shoulder briefly.

Michael laughed. “Like always. You know how much I love my horses.”

Thomas felt a wave of envy, he loved horses too -- unfortunately this love didn’t rest on reciprocity anymore. Except for Senegal, Senegal was a very special horse in that regard.

“Let’s go to the house,” said Michael. “There should be coffee there and something to eat.”

Thomas grinned, there probably wouldn’t be anything for him, at least nothing he could count as nutrition, and he’d also forgotten to pack something. But Jakob seemed to be right that the effect of human blood lasted longer, since he didn’t feel any thirst at the moment. That was at least something, if he had to keep wanting to attack all his friends…

“How did you manage to be able to come here, anyway?” Michael asked and tore him out of his thoughts. “I thought you were pretty busy now.”

Thomas sighed quietly. “Something’s not right right now -- I called in sick to try to get free of it. And it doesn’t matter to the coach, he knows that I’ll bring good performances either way.”

“I didn’t know that you...could get sick,” Michael muttered.

“We can. That is -- I wouldn’t exactly call it sick. But it is sick in a way.” And he told Michael a little bit about the recent events over a glass of hot coffee and some toast for breakfast. He didn’t need to hold anything back from Michael anymore, he was old enough to grasp it, but had requested that Thomas not talk about the details in the presence of the children.

“And if you tried to explain it to Mario,” Michael suggested. “Afterall, I did believe you.”

“I sucked a pig dry in front of you to make you believe me,” Thomas reminded him with a laugh.

Michael grimaced. “True. But I’m sure you could find some way...nicer to convince your friend of the truth.”

“What, just eat a cat?” Thomas grinned broadly.

“For example,” laughed Michael.

“No -- the hairs get stuck between your teeth, it’s gross!”

Michael paused, then shivered. “Just the image is disgusting Thomas.”

“I know,” Thomas grinned widely, but then got more serious. “I could tell Mario. And maybe, just maybe he would believe it too. And attempt to murder me. Or in the best case not have anything more to do with me. In any event, I’d lose my best friend.”

“Do you really think so?” Michael asked. “I mean, you’re not a monster like vampires are described in books or movies. You’ve never killed anyone and you live off of animal blood.”

“Up to now. But I have no idea if animal blood will keep being enough. And besides -- who’s going to tell Mario that I’m not one of those horror-vampires?”

Michael shrugged. “You know what’s best for you. Is there… no one who can help you? I mean, you’re certainly not the first one who’s been through something like this, are you?”

“Jakob doesn’t know either,” Thomas shrugged, although the fact that his mentor was also clueless was weighing on him.

“I thought this Jakob was rather old.”

Thomas nodded. “He lived through the thirty years war in any event, no idea how old he was then.”

“And in all this time he’s never heard about something like this?” Michael asked shocked.

“He hasn’t really associated with that many of us. He lives very isolated. That he even found me back then -- that was a huge accident. And very lucky for me.”

“Still, I find it rather strange,” Michael said.

Thomas shrugged. “We’re all very different. And there’s not that many of us either.”

“Then you’ll have to figure it out yourself.”

“Thanks Michael, I’d already gotten that far myself…”

Michael shrugged. “Sorry, but I don’t understand vampires myself. If you were a normal person, I’d guess that you’d have a crush on mario. But I don’t know if that happens for your kind. With love and stuff…”

Surprised, Thomas looked at him. “Yeah...it does,” he muttered after a minute.

“And?” Michael asked.

“Honestly I have no idea,” Thomas murmured. “Mario is sweet and nice -- but I’ve never really thought about whether or not I’d like men or women…”

Michael’s eyebrows crept upwards. “I thought that after that guy you’d bitten that was clear. Otherwise you would have sought out a woman.”

“That guy had smelled damn good, and there weren’t any women around the area. Maybe I would have prefered one…” Thomas shrugged. “But maybe it really is guys that I find attractive -- and tasty.”

“Well, if I were a vampire, I definitely wouldn’t be biting any guys,” Michael said.

“Ok, so let’s assume that I really do prefer men. You don’t have to be worried about your David, I certainly won’t be nibbling on him.”

Michael grinned. “I know you Thomas. You would never attack children. Especially not if they were related to you.”

“I never nibbled you either,” Thomas laughed.

“And for that I’m very grateful,” Michael said.

Thomas laughed quietly. “I probably would have gotten a stake to the heart faster than I can run -- although I don’t know if that helps…”

“Let’s not try it out,” Michael said.

“No, please don’t…” Thomas said just as dryly.

Michael laughed quietly. “So back to your problem.”

“Human blood. How should I describe… you’ve only ever drunk lukewarm pop, and all of a sudden you get one cool, fresh beer.”

“Ok, so your Mario is a well-chilled beer,” Michael grinned.

“At the very least,” Thomas returned the grin.

“I wouldn’t let such a good chilled beer go so easily,” Michael said.

“Yeah, if it were that easy…”

“What’s holding you back?”

“Mario’s friendship,” Thomas snorted quietly. “And that I don’t just suck out people that I know. Actually, I never wanted to do that at all…”

“Then would you rather bite complete strangers?” Michael asked.

“I would most rather not bite anyone. That worked for years, decades with animal blood instead. Cow, pig, sometimes a bit of sheep or goat -- why isn’t it working all of a sudden anymore?”

“Because you know how good… the other tastes,” Michael guessed.

“No,” Thomas shook his head. “I knew that already.”

“But you said that it had been different this time. With this… Lars?”

Thomas nodded. “It was more...the...sexual component…”

“No details,” Michael grinned.

“No worries, I don’t want to make you blush,” Thomas laughed.

In the upper stories, loud tramping of feet suddenly started sounding. “Ah, the kids are awake,” Michael smiled.

Immediately, Thomas started beaming. He loved his niece and nephew -- great-nephew, at least as much as he loved Michael. As if they were his own children.


	9. A Ride

A little bit later, Michael’s children appeared in the doorway. “Uncle Thomas!” Marie called and ran towards THomas.

“Marie!” Thomas stood up to pull her tightly into his arms.

David ran to Thomas too and clamped himself tightly to his leg.

“Hey, you dwarf,” Thomas laughed and took both children into his arms.

Michael smiled watching the three, and then stood up to set the table for the rest of the familie.

Shortly thereafter, Michael’s wife Christin also came into the kitchen and greeted Thomas surprised, but brightly. “You’re just on time, it should happen today or tomorrow. But Michael already told you that surely.”

Thomas nodded. “We were already in the stable and looked in on Ankala.”

Christin beamed. “Both kids are already so excited.”

“Do you already have a name picked out?” he asked the two children.

They both nodded immediately. “If it’s a girl, it’ll be called Snowstar,” Marie beamed. “And if it’s a boy, then Pirate Captain,” David was sure, although the parents just smiled at them.

“So, you like pirates then,” Thomas grinned at David.

“Yeah, they’re so cool,” David told him admiringly. “Very strong and brave, and they do what they want. And give money to the poor.”

Thomas laughed and ruffled David’s hair.

“Vampires are really cool too, they’re also really strong!”

“You think?” Thomas asked.

“Yeah,” David was convinced. “And they make people dead.”

Thomas looked at the little boy seriously. “That’s not cool, David. Only evil people kill humans. And that’s anything but cool.”

But David wasn’t entirely convinced.

“Come little man, you need to eat your breakfast,” Thomas said with a sigh and set David down.

His mother had already put a hot cocoa down in front of him, and now she was spreading butter and marmalade on bread for both children. “Do you want something to eat too Thomas?”

“I already ate some toast,” Thomas shook his head. “But I’d take a coffee.”

Christin gave him one immediately.

Thomas took a gulp and then looked at the clock. “I need to make a short phone call,” he said and stood up.

In the living room, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed a number. Quickly, he called in sick with his trainer for the next few days. A flu, he said with a feigned hoarseness.

He was excused and told to call the doc too. Thomas nodded, said good bye, and then hung up. Somehow he’d make it clear to the doc that he had been to see him.

For a moment, he stared at his phone again, then he dialed a second number hesitantly. “Thomas, where are you hiding?” he was immediately asked concerned.

“I...called in sick,” he explained quietly. “I’m not feeling so well.”

“So it really has gotten worse. I was wondering why you were so strange about it yesterday.”

Thomas smiled softly. “I’m sorry about yesterday.”

“It’s ok,” Mario just said.

“It’s not,” Thomas shook his head. “I acted like an asshole.”

“When you don’t feel well, sometimes you act strangely. And you were very off-kilter yesterday.”

“Then you’re not still angry at me?”

“Nonsense. I’m not.”

Relieved, Thomas smiled. “That’s good,” he said quietly.

“Do you need anything? Cough syrup, something I can bring by?” Mario offered.

“No, I’m well taken care of,” Thomas said quickly.

“And some company? Or would you rather sleep?”

“I’ll call when I feel better, ok?” Thomas suggested. “Right now I just want to sleep.”

“Then… get well soon,” Mario wished him, “and call me, ok?”

“Will do. Have fun at training.”

“I’ll say hi to the others from you, ok? Rense already asked about you.”

Thomas smiled softly when he heard that. “I’ll call Michi, you can tell him that.”

“But not until after training, he’s already started.”

Thomas nodded. “Ok. Talk to you soon.”

“Soon,” Mario hung up.

“Was that Mario?” asked Michael, who had just appeared in the doorway and was looking at Thomas. Thomas just nodded. “And?” Michael asked further and pushed Thomas’ coffee mug into his hand.

“And what?”

“Is he still angry?”

“No, not at all. He’s blaming me not feeling well yesterday for it.”

Michael nodded. “Well, see. One fewer worry.”

Thomas snorted quietly. “Unfortunately it was the smallest concern…”

“But you can’t change anything else now,” Michael said firmly. “Do you want to come outside and feed the animals?”

With a smile, Thomas nodded, that would distract him -- even if he could only push the wheelbarrow and not get any closer to the animals. Aside from Senegal…

In fact, the time passed quickly. During the work, Michael and he chatted about everything under the sun, but left out his problems. Football, training, friends on one side, village life and relatives on the other. It was actually the first time in weeks in which he hadn’t thought about how different he was every second.

The thoughts returned first when he was sitting with Christin and Michael after the work was done. Both children were in kindergarten, so they had a bit of peace and quiet.

“You look… very penseive,” Christin decided and looked at Thomas. “Did something happen?”

Thomas shrugged his shoulders. “I’ll come to terms with it somehow…”

“Tell me,” Christin said and smiled at him encouragingly.

“I think that I’ve fallen for someone, but it’s not quite that simple. And actually, I came up here to clear up a few things for myself.”

Christin smiled. “But that’s so nice. What exactly is the problem? Too shy to tell her?”

“If, then him,” Thomas murmured.

“You… oh,” Christin said and looked at him surprised.

Thomas shrugged his shoulders.

“That… is it the first man you’ve… fallen for?” she asked carefully.

Thomas nodded. “I never really thought about it before. I also don’t know if it’ll become anything -- if it can. But it’s definitely keeping my thoughts busy right now.”

“Of course,” Christin nodded sympathetically. “Does he know about your feelings?”

Thomas shook his head. “We play football, it’s not so easy.”

“Then it’s a teammate of yours?”

Thomas nodded. “Mario.”

Christin seemed to think about it for a moment, then she smiled. “The dark-haired guy with the cute blue eyes?”

Thomas laughed. “That’s the one.”

“Good choice,” she nodded. “A fine man.”

Thomas laughed again. “And a good friend.”

“And is he… does he like men?” Christin asked.

“If only I knew,” Thomas murmured.

“Does he have a girlfriend?”

“Since he came to Munich, not anymore,” Thomas said.

“What happened?”

“No idea, maybe the distance. He never talked about it.”

“Of yes of course, you men don’t talk,” Christin scoffed.

“Apparently,” Thomas grinned wryly.

“Then you’ll have to find it out in some other way.”

“And how? Spy on Silvia?”

Christin shrugged. “I don’t know your Mario, otherwise I could maybe give you a tip.”

“It’s ok,” Thomas said. “Some sort of solution will show itself.”

“You’re a nice young man Thomas. Even if your Mario doesn’t return your feelings, you’ll find someone,” Christin was sure.

Thomas nodded, even though he wasn’t sure. It was possibly harder for him than for others to find someone. Besides, a whole other aspect came with it that had to fit. Or did every blood taste the same? For some reason, he didn’t think so. After all, every person smelled different. Mario was seductive and so was Michi, but for example he couldn’t imagine biting Franck or Jörg if it wasn’t an emergency.

Lars had also smelled very good, but not for miles as good as Mario. And their trainer smelled so horrific, he would never be able to be with someone like that. He sighed quietly. His decision still stood though. He couldn’t and didn’t want to bite his friends. So he should strike the thoughts out of his head.

“Talk to him,” Christin requested again, and Michael nodded encouragingly.

“I… don’t know. Mario is also one of my best friends,” Thomas muttered.

“Then he won’t drop you just because you’re gay,” Christin said.

“But maybe, if he finds out I like him.”

“I don’t believe that. After all, you are very close friends.”

Thomas smiled weakly. Maybe the two of them were right about that, but the fact still was that he was a vampire. And hadn’t just fallen for Mario, but also for his blood. And still, Michael was also completely convinced that he had a chance.

“I’m… going to go take a bit of a walk,” Thomas said quietly and stood up.

“Do you want to ride? I’m sure Senegal would love that,” Michael suggest.

Immediately, a smile spread across Thomas’ face. “I’d love to.”

“The saddle is in the cabinet, the one with the green belt. And the bridle is also the green one.”

Thomas nodded gratefully and left the house with quick steps to the stable. He went into the stable quietly and edged particularly slowly and carefully towards Senegal’s stall. “So my beauty,” he whispered and pet Senegal gently. “Do you want to hove a bit?”

The horse stayed very still, even as Thomas got the saddle and bridle and prepared everything. With a smile, Thomas swung himself onto Senegal’s back shortly thereafter. He clicked his tongue quietly and drove the horse forward with a small squeeze of his thighs. He hadn’t ridden in far too long, the last time he had been here, Senegal was lamed and any other horse wasn’t an option.

But despite that, he had no problems paying attention to the movement of the animal. He always had been a good rider, and hadn’t unlearned it even as a vampire. And Senegal seemed to not care about carrying a vampire on his back, funnily enough.

Walking, they left the farm and Thomas guided the horse onto a field path. He had grown up here, and even if things had changed a lot in the past decades, he still always felt at home. Like always, he directed the horse to the nearby forest, through which a path for riders had led for some time. Here, he let Senegal begin to trot, and on a longer relatively straight stretch, they even got up to a gallop.

He enjoyed the feeling and managed to shut everything out for a few minutes. They practically flew across the countryside, until Thomas eventually turned their path around. The closer they got to the farm again, the more his thoughts wandered back to his problem. Mario.

In a comfortable walk, they came back, and Thomas looked after the horse before he led it to the others in the bordering pasture. He stayed leaning on the fence for a while and watched the horses. They grazed enjoyingly, but other than Senegal, they were all gradually retreating to the farthest corner of the paddock. Thomas sighed. Would Mario also react like that when he found out what he really was? Would he retreat, end their friendship?

Before he could keep musing, he heard a car coming from far away.


	10. A Baby Horse

He turned around and watched the car drive up the driveway and stop in front of the house. It was a red van, and a short while later, Marie and David climbed out and ran at him excited. “Is it here yet? Is it here yet?”

“Do we want to go look?” Thomas asked and grabbed the hands of both children. Joyfully, they both dragged him over the farm and into the stable. In Ankala’s stall, Michael was kneeling next to a man in the straw. Thomas kept his distance like always, but watched the two of them interestedly.

“It’s almost time,” Michael said quietly.

Thomas had difficulties keeping both children with him so that they didn’t disrupt Ankala, and eventually he picked them both up so they could see better. “Stay very quiet,” he whispered to them. “Ankala needs calm right now.”

It didn’t take long before the first dark hoof was visible, and it became much harder for Thomas to keep both children in his arms quiet. Luckily, it was an easy birth and it didn’t take long before a little foal was laying in the straw.

“A little mare,” the veterinarian judged, while he dried off the young animal with some straw.

“A girl,” Marie called enchanted, which released a small laugh from Thomas.

“Can’t a girl still be called Pirate Captain?” David wanted to know.

Marie shook her head at once. “Of course,” Thomas contradicted. “Girls can be pirates too.”

“No, that’s Snowstar,” she insisted and pointed to the pitch-black foal.

“But it’s not white at all, so it can’t be called Snowstar either,” David whined immediately.

“But it’s a girl, so it ALSO can’t be a Pirate Captain,” protested Marie.

“Can you not think of something else nice?” Thomas asked.

Both children thought it over for a bit, then they bombarded him with names. “Princess Lily-Fairy” -- “Pirate’s Bride” -- “Findus” …

Thomas grinned inwardly while he listened to both of them seriously.

After a while, they were sent out of the stable by the vet. “Think up a name over in the house,” he requested.

Thomas nodded. “Come you two. Your mama will definitely make a nice hot cocoa and then we can think about this more in peace.”

He carried the two children to the house and into the kitchen, where most of the family’s daily life took place. “The foal is here, a black mare, and looks very healthy,” he told Christin at once.

“Very good,” Christin nodded with a smile.

“Should I keep watch over the soup, and you can go look in on the stable?” Thomas suggested.

“That would be very sweet of you,” Christin nodded.

At once, Thomas took the spoon away from her and stirred the soup briefly, while he kept listening to the suggestions.

A bit later, Michael and Christin came back. “Just on time,” Thomas grinned at them. “The soup just got done.”

“Great. Come on David, set the table. Marie, take your toys back upstairs,” Christin gave the commands.

Marie grumbled a little bit, but took her toys into the nursery.

Then she came back and sat down on her chair, which she pushed closer to Thomas.

Thomas smiled and pet her blonde hair. Marie beamed at him. Even though most children like animals were shy of him -- his relatives apparently weren’t. And he was unendingly grateful for that. He loved Marie and David more than anything. Besides, he couldn’t have children himself, and Michael already had been like his own child, and it wasn’t any different with Marie and David.

“And now we eat,” Christin said. The children nodded obediently, and Thomas joined in too. Christin was a good cook, and he enjoyed the family life with them. Besides, Christin and the children didn’t know about him. And things would stay like that, if he had it his way. He didn’t see any reason to possibly alarm them.

He had just finished eating when his phone ringed quietly. He had turned down the volume before, but hadn’t turned it completely off. “Yes?” he answered and stood up.

“Hey Thomas,” Mario said. “I just wanted to hear how you’re doing.”

“Getting better slowly,” Thomas said as the kitchen door shut behind him.

“I’m glad,” Mario smiled. “Should I come by and bring you something to eat?”

“No thanks. It’s very nice of you, but I have everything. And I don’t want to get you sick.”

“If you say so,” Mario said. “But I’m not worried. Besides, I could have caught it yesterday or the day before already, and I didn’t.”

“It’s nice but… leave it for now. And tomorrow, I’m going to drive home and let myself get better there,” Thomas told him.

“Ok,” Mario murmured.

“Not ok?” Thomas asked him.

“Of course it is,” Mario said quickly. “I… I just feel trapped at home right now.”

“I’m sorry,” Thomas explained quietly.

“It’s certainly not your fault.”

Thomas nodded, although it was sort of his fault. He was blocking Mario out of his life.

“Maybe I’ll ask Michi if he has some free time,” Mario murmured. “Or Phil… although right now, both of them are rather occupied with couple’s nights-out.”

“And you’re completely alone and without my support,” Thomas apologized to him.

Mario laughed quietly. “Yes, we two lonely single men between all the lovers. A horrible fate.”

We could change that, ran through Thomas’ thoughts, but he didn’t say it.

“I don’t think I’d want to go alone to a couple’s night. I do have a book here that Timo recommended to me, and since the summer has just laid around here unread,” Mario said.

“What book?” Thomas wanted to know.

“By Stieg Larsson,” Mario told him. “Timo said they were really good.”

“I’ve heard that too myself, but I haven’t read any of them. You’ll have to tell me how it is,” Thomas offered.

“Will do,” Mario promised. “Listen, I have to go now. We have another short meeting before we can go home.”

“Greet everyone from me, yeah?” Thomas asked.

“Of course. And you -- get better quickly.”

“Thanks. Talk to you soon,” Thomas said and hung up.

Sighing, he shoved the phone back into his pants pocket. How were things between him and Mario supposed to continue? He couldn’t avoid him forever. So he would have to struggle with the desire to bite him. But could he do that, since Mario smelled so damn good?

Maybe it would be better if he banned himself from human blood altogether again. It had worked so well for him for so long -- maybe it was just a phase. Yes. He would simply follow his original plan and only drink animal blood from now on. With a bit of look, the human blood would tide him over for another few days, and then he would run back home, drink animal blood, and train and play as if nothing had happened. And then he could be completely normally friends with Mario again. Yes, that was the plan which he would be following from that point on. Satisfied, he smiled and went back into the kitchen.

“Oh, a pleasant phone call,” Christin declared.

“Mario wanted to know how I’m doing.”

“It’s nice he’s not angry at you anymore,” Michael said.

Thomas shrugged and sat down next to Marie again.

“You need to eat up still,” the children pointed at his plate, “otherwise there won’t be any desert!”

“Oh then I have to,” Thomas grinned at them and ate the rest of his soup quickly.

Afterwards, Christin put a large bowl of homemade cherry yoghurt on the table.

They ate that happily too, while the children told them about their day at kindergarten.

After eating, the children were sent outside while Christin took care of the housework and Thomas and Michael went back to the animals, especially to look after the foal. “How long do you want to stay, by the way?” Michael asked.

Thomas shrugged. “A couple of days, if that’s ok.”

“You can stay as long as you want, you know that,” Michael smiled at him. “But it usually doesn’t help to run away from your problems.”

“I know… I just need a bit of peace, and when I’ve forgotten the delicious taste a little bit, then I’ll be able to go back to the animal blood cans.”

“And Mario?” Michael asked.

“What about him? We’re getting along again.”

“Then you really don’t want to have anything with him?”

“For now no. It would only be dangerous.”

Michael sighed. “It’s your business. But you… I mean, do you want to stay alone forever?”

“Jakob is alone. He had a partner once but… she died eventually. It’s so hard to outlive people, and if you really loved someone more than anything…”

Michael nodded. “I couldn’t do it. Living alone without Christin or the children.”

“But to know that they’ll all die before you. And the ones after that too, and after that…?”

“But you could also… change them, couldn’t you?” Michael asked hesitantly.

Thomas gulped, then shook his head. “Also make a monster out of them?”

“You’re not a monster, Thomas,” Michael said seriously. “I wouldn’t let you near Mario or David if you were one.”

“I can’t die and I feed off of blood. I don’t have a pulse, and if I don’t think about it, then I don’t even breathe. I run faster than a car drives and can influence your thoughts. And read them, at least I can pick up feelings and stuff.”

Michael nodded. “And yet despite all that you’re not a bad guy, Thomas. You’re afraid of hurting someone, and you would never intentionally hurt someone.”

“Except for Lars,” Thomas muttered.

“The way you described it to me, that Lars also had his own fun.”

“But I still hurt him.”

Michael sighed. There was no sense in talking about the topic with Thomas. He had thought that somehow Mario would change something, but apparently he hadn’t done that. He would just leave Thomas in peace and be there for him when he needed it. So they mucked the stables out together, looked after the animals, and repaired a few things that had fallen into disrepair over the past year. Thomas’ supernatural strength helped them in that task.

The sun was already setting by the time they returned to the house. The smell of dinner was wafting out of the kitchen. “I need to shower first,” Thomas grinned. He hadn’t sweat at all, but he was covered in dust and hay.

“You know the guest room, and I’m sure Christin laid everything out for you.”

Thomas smiled thankfully and climbed up the wooden staircase. The guest room was in the refurbished attic, just like the guest bathroom. He showered there and enjoyed the feeling of the water running over his body. Then he pulled fresh clothing on and sat down for a moment on the bench in front of the window to watch the sunset.

He loved the calmness here on the farm where he had grown up. Maybe he should just stay here. Life here was much easier. But he wouldn’t stay, he knew that. He loved the human world too much. He liked his friends in Munich -- and everything he could achieve there. So he would keep going like usual and just hope that it went well.

A knock on the door pulled him out of his thoughts. “Come in,” he called outside.

Michael walked into the room smiling. “Dinner’s ready.”

Thomas grinned slyly. “Blood sausage?”

Michael shook his head. “I have to disappoint you there, sorry. There’s sausages and sandwiches.”

“It’s ok, that’ll do just fine,” Thomas assured him. “I’m still not thirsty.”

“Good,” Michael grinned somewhat wryly.

Thomas stood up and walked towards him. “And even if I was, I wouldn’t nibble on anything here.”

“I know that,” Michael said.

“I just wanted to say it again -- that I haven’t forgotten it.” Thomas looked at him for a bit, then left the guest room. Michael followed him and a bit later, they were sitting together with the children at the table. After dinner, both of the children were yawning, so Christin took them to bed.

“I want to go check up on the foal once more,” Michael said.

Thomas hesitated, he would have loved to go with him.

“Go ahead,” Christin smiled at him. Thomas nodded, even if Christin didn’t know why he was hesitating. Michael had already gone on ahead, but waited for him in front of the stable. Slowly, Thomas edged closer, to test out how close he could come.

“Everything ok?” Michael asked.

“I think so. We’ll see if the horses let me in, or if I can only go to Senegal.”

“I’ll go first and you can come in afterwards,” Michael suggested.

“Ok,” Thomas nodded and watched Michael walk slowly to the stable and past the stable door. The horses snorted a bit uneasily, but stayed standing. Very slowly, Thomas came nearer and began to speak quietly to them.”

Ankala’s stall with the foal was luckily rather close to the beginning, so he only had to take a couple of steps into the stable. He greeted Senegal, who looked at him with curiosity, then he went farther in, until he could see the mare and her dark foal.

“You’re a strong little girl, aren’t you,” Michael murmured and stroked Ankala’s neck.

“And absolutely beautiful,” smiled Thomas, who had come up to the stall in the meantime.

Michael nodded. “But the little one still doesn’t have a name.”

“Your kids have great suggestions,” Thomas grinned.

“Yeah I’m not so sure,” Michael laughed.

“No? Do you at least have a couple of ideas?”

“Right now, no,” Michael shook his head. “Has something struck you?”

“Hmm -- as dark as the little one is… maybe something with night?”

Michael laughed out loud. “Sure, that’s what I get for asking a vampire.”

Thomas had to laugh too. “Then she would have been named Blood Night!”

“Blood night! For such a poor little foal,” Michael scoffed.

“I didn’t suggest it, now did I!” Thomas protested. “You can call it Sunshine too, but that doesn’t exactly work with the coat.”

“True,” Michael nodded and stood up. “Let’s sleep on it one night, maybe something fitting will come to us.”

“As long as the little one won’t become Pirate Bride…”

“Certainly not,” Michael promised.

“Thanks. And… convince David that vampires aren’t cool because they kill people.”

Michael sighed. “He’s still convinced of that?”

“Yeah, he is. And I don’t know how to talk him out of it.”

“There’ll be a way,” Michael was sure.

“True, there was for you back then. Although, for you it was soldiers -- which was probably worse.”

“Boys are like that,” Michael muttered while he shut the door to the stall quietly.

Thomas shrugged -- if he had been like that, he didn’t remember anymore, and there wasn’t anyone else anymore who could tell him.


	11. A Phone Call

“Now come,” Michael said and laid an arm across his shoulder. “Let’s go inside.”

Thomas nodded, it was good to have such dear relatives as Michael. Even if Michael wouldn’t stay around forever. But then he’d have an eye on Michael’s descendants. On David and Marie and their children. And somehow, they all lived in him further -- because he knew them and loved them.

“What are you thinking about this time?” Michael asked quietly.

“Nothing special… sometimes you just get stuck in your thoughts,” Thomas muttered.

“Even a vampire?”

With a crooked grin, Thomas nodded. “Even a vampire.”

“You’re not that different from us humans are you, my dear,” Michael said.

“No, just a little bit different…”

Michael smiled at him and pulled him out of the stable. Soon, they entered the house again, where warmth and light came out to meet them and drove away the bleak thoughts.

“Will you sit with us a while?” Michael asked and pointed towards the living room. “Christin made tea.”

“Smells good,” Thomas smiled. “The tea, I mean…”

“Your good nose,” Michael grinned.

“I can number off your lunches from the past week, I just can’t tell the order apart. And you’re drinking a new beer now.”

Michael stared at him dumbfounded. “True. That… astonishes me honestly.”

Thomas shrugged. “Good nose…”

“I can’t imagine it’d always be pleasant.”

“It’s ok… if things get too bad, I just stop breathing,” Thomas said.

Michael grinned slightly. “If you put it that way.”

Thomas sniffed. “Egg pancakes… I would even be hungry again for those…”

“Ask Christin, she’ll gladly fulfill that wish,” Michael said straight away.

Thomas nodded, and as they walked into the living room, he spoke to her immediately about it. “Can you actually make pancakes as good as your mother?”

“I haven’t heard any complaints yet,” she laughed. “But if you want, then I’ll make you some tomorrow and you can judge for yourself.”

“I was hoping for that,” Thomas grinned at her.

“If I can make you happy with such simple fare,” Christin said.

“You can,” Thomas nodded and sat down next to her on the sofa.

“Tea?” she asked and gave him some, without waiting for an answer. Thankfully, Thomas took the large mug from her. He never froze, but enjoyed the warmth from the bug anyway. Besides, the tea smelled wonderfully spicy.

“Fireside,” Christin commented, when she saw him smelling the mug.

“Fitting to this time of year,” Thomas smiled and took a sip.

“If you want, I can turn on the fireplace, then you won’t just be drinking the fireside,” Michael offered, already standing up.

“I definitely won’t say no to that,” Thomas said.

It didn’t take long before there were flames crackling in the hearth. Relaxed, Thomas leaned back and watched the dancing flames. Michael smiled, Thomas was rarely so relaxed.

Thomas took another sip of his tea. Maybe he should get a hearth built in his house. It was so tremendously calming to sit in front of a fire. Not just a dumb fake hearth, but a real one. He lived in an old building, so it had to have had one at some point. He nodded. As soon as he was back in Munich, he’d set that plan into motion. Luckily, it wouldn’t fail because of money. He earned quite a bit, and in the next few years, it would be even more. So much that he’d have enough for decades. So he could give a little bit of money up for a hearth.

While he thought about that, Christin and Michael chatted -- about the foal, the children, the farm… His thoughts drifted back and forth until he only heard their voices in the background. He was so lucky with this family. They stood behind him, even though Christin and the children didn’t know everything about him. When he needed peace or simply people who were there for him, then he knew where he could go. And he could talk with Michael at least. And it was good to have someone other than Jakob. A human, who thought like a human and not like a vampire. Someone who wasn’t affected and could simply explain the other, normal side of things.

It had been Michael who had put him onto his feelings for Mario… His feelings for Mario… what should he do with them? Was it even true? Was he really… in love or did he just find Mario’s smell attractive? He closed his eyes and pictured Mario. His smell, his beaming eyes, his smile, his friendliness -- and the warmth which emanated from him. Mario was always warm, even in the deepest winter. It felt good to hug him or to be hugged by him. He enjoyed spending time with Mario and was happy that they also shared a room in team hotels.

Was that just friendship -- or already something more? He had never been in love before, but he had always thought that you would have to notice it at once. Did it maybe not work that way? Could love develop slowly?

Up to now, he’d always made sure he didn’t get too closely connected to people. His family here had been the exception. But now? Michi and Andi were good friends and Mario the closest friend that he’d ever had. Why had he become like that all at once? Jakob had warned him earlier.

He sighed quietly. None of that brought him any further. Even if he had fallen in love with Mario, there was no solution. He had to keep away from him. But how? He didn’t want to hurt Mario, so he couldn’t just end the friendship. Besides, he’d suffer from that too. Even the little spat they’d had after the movie had thrown him way off-kilter. So that wouldn’t work. He needed to find some other way to not come any closer to Mario. He would have to try to keep his feelings in check. Even more than before.

Hopefully it would be easier for him once he only had animal blood in his veins again. The human blood seemed to make him even more sensitive than usual. He would simply have to wait it out -- and spend a couple of days here. He didn’t want to stay too long, after all he needed get back to training and playing. And he didn’t want to become a burden on Christin and Michael.

Two days was a good amount of time. Then he could believably assure everyone in Munich that he had cured his cold and still have enough time here to spend with the children. Besides, there was plenty to do around the farm still, and Thomas enjoyed helping. It was good for him to be needed, and there was plenty that Michael wouldn’t be able to do alone or with hired help.

“Everything ok Thomas?”

Thomas looked up a bit surprised, he had forgotten for a bit where he was. “Yeah, of course… it is.”

Christin raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“At the moment, there’s a lot that’s confusing in my life, that’s why I’m so grateful that I can be here. Step away from everything for a bit and clear my head.”

“You’re always welcome here,” Christin smiled.

“I know that, and I’m also very thankful to you for it.”

“And what were you thinking about so much? Mario?”

“Amongst other things. I’ll have to see how I can resolve that…”

“Talk,” Christin suggested with a laugh.

Thomas hesitated. “Avoid him a little bit until everything’s calmed down again.”

Christin looked at him surprised. “But why?”

“It won’t work,” Thomas muttered.

“You never were one to give up so easily,” she shook her head.

“It’s not ‘giving up easily’,” Thomas said. “But if it can be. And it mustn’t.”

Christin sighed. “I think you’re making your own life extra difficult. How do you think you know everything without even talking to Mario about it?”

Thomas gulped. “It’s not really based on what Mario wants…”

“So you don’t want it?” Christin asked, now completely confused.

Thomas sighed quietly. “It just won’t work.”

“Leave him,” Michael asked, before his wife could follow up.

Surprised, Christin looked at him. “You… know what’s wrong?”

Michael shrugged. “We talked in the stables a little bit.”

Christin nodded. “Good thing you’re not alone in your opinion, Thomas.” Thomas half-grinned, but didn’t say anything. Christin left him in peace, so they spent the rest of their evening comfortably and eventually went to bed.

Thomas also went upstairs into the guest room. He considered going outside for a bit, but decided not to. He probably would run into some people again who he didn’t know and would likely attack. So he undressed in the dark and laid down in bed.

Subconsciously, he felt about for his phone and dialed a number. “Hello?” a rather sleepy-sounding voice answered after a minute.

“Mario… Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you,” Thomas apologized straightaway.

“It’s not bad,” Mario murmured and groaned. “I’m glad you called. How are you feeling?”

“It’s getting better. I’m in Pähl now and am letting myself get well here.”

“Do you already know when you’re coming back?” Mario asked.

“I think in two days or so,” Thomas told him what he had decided.

“Good,” Mario was audibly excited.

“I think so too,” Thomas smiled.

“The others are looking forward to you being back with us again too,” Mario told him. Thomas nodded, for some reason it was more important to him that Mario was excited. “And what did you lazybones do the whole day? Other than lay around in bed and let yourself be waited on?”

“I called you, isn’t that enough? Besides, I did drive here… well let myself get picked up.”

“Did you at least commiserate with me while I was out training in the icy cold today?”

“And I was sitting in a nice warm bed? Yes I did. Was it that bad?”

“It was horrible,” Mario nodded. And you just left me there all alone.”

“I’ll be holding your hand again in two days,” Thomas promised.

Mario hesitated and then laughed. “Oh that would be funny, doing all our drills holding hands.”

Thomas laughed too. “Then the others can be happy that we’re both attacking players -- if one of us was a goalkeeper, that would be even more ridiculous.”

“We’ll suggest it to our next opponent,” Mario grinned. Thomas laughed aloud again. It just always felt so good around Mario.

“We’ll have to see who we’re playing next,” Mario continued and Thomas heard a rustle.

“Do you think we would want to give Berlin a chance like that?”

“I actually wanted to see which keeper we would need to convince to hold hands with one of his defenders.”

“Hmm… so Arne and Drobný?”

“Poor Arne,” Mario laughed. “But as captain, he would naturally have to be the first one to try it out. So… do you want his number? You’re so bored right now -- you can afford to do a bit of convincing work.”

“No, you do it. How am I supposed convince him?”

“With your charm?” Mario suggested. Thomas bit his lip, his charm wasn’t exactly an accident, rather… nature-given. “What? Are you already thinking about what you’re going to say to Arne?”

Thomas shook his head. “No… I was just lost in thought a bit…”

“And what are you worrying about now?” Mario asked softly.

“A lot of stuff,” Thomas muttered and ideally would have told Mario everything.

“What?” Mario asked again.

“I can’t tell you. I’ll figure it out myself though.”

“Why don’t you trust me?”

“Oh Mario, I trust you. But I still can’t tell you everything.”

“Who else, if not your best friend?” Mario asked. “Isn’t that what best friends are for?”

“Of course they are. And… but I just can’t tell you everything. Some things…”

“What are ‘some things’ Thomas?”

Thomas sighed quietly. “I can’t tell you.”

“Is it something to do with me?” Mario asked.

“No,” Thomas shook his head, even if it was a half-lie.

“Then I don’t understand why you can’t tell me.”

“Mario…” Thomas whispered with way too much feeling.

“What Thomas?” Thomas sighed quietly and closed his eyes for a second. Why couldn’t he react as cooly as he usually did? Was that also because of the human blood? “Are… are you still there?” Mario asked quietly.

“I am,” Thomas whispered.

“Then talk to me,” Mario pled. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“I can’t, Mario -- as much as I want to.” And certainly not on the telephone. Mario would bolt. Or pretend to not know him anymore. Or get him shut up in a cell.

“If you want to, what’s holding you back?”

Thomas sighed quietly. “It just won’t work. Can we talk about something else -- or sleep.”

“You know that I’m not going to let it go so easily,” Mario warned him with a sigh.

“And you know that I’m just as stubborn.”

“We’ll see who’s more stubborn,” Mario grinned.

Thomas grinned too, even if it was a bit weak. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to hold out. Was the human blood also responsible for that?

“And now I think it’s best if we sleep,” Mario suggested. “You do have to get better quickly after all.”

“And you have to train tomorrow more,” Thomas nodded.

“Unfortunately,” Mario laughed. “Sleep well Thomas.”

“You too. And talk to you later…” He hung up quickly, before he said anything else.

With a deep sigh, he buried his head in his pillow. Shit, that conversation really hadn’t gone the way he had hoped. How was it supposed to go when they were talking to each other face-to-face again? When Mario looked at him with his damn blue eyes? Hugged him maybe, wanted to comfort him?

How could he keep being silent about everything, when everything in him screamed to try it out? To kiss him, to touch him, and to drink his blood? Frustrated, Thomas bit his pillow. His wonderful plan was going just great.

“Shit,” he cursed and stood up again. He couldn’t just stay lying down and sleep now! Like wildfire, he got dressed again and left the house soundlessly. The cold winter air smelled good, a little bit like animals from the stables, a little bit like the forest, and like snow.

Without really thinking, he picked a direction and started running. Across a field, past a lake, then through a forest, over a clearing… when he saw a town, he made a huge detour around it. Slowly, a little bit of calm returned to his churning thoughts.

Mario wanted to know what was wrong no matter what. What options did he have to stave that off? Or should he just simply tell him? And hope that Mario would be able to come to terms with having a vampire as a friend? He snorted quietly and kept running. He couldn’t let Mario in on his secret! And without being able to tell him that, he also couldn’t tell him anything about his feelings.

He kept running, until he couldn’t dodge the lights of a city anymore. He slowed down and stayed standing for a while. A large city in the background, he seemed to have come to the outskirts of one of the suburbs.

It was late, well-past midnight if he had to guess. There shouldn’t be too many people still out. He nodded and kept running. In fact, there was no one still out, he encountered no one until he got to a well-known area. He stayed standing and sighed shaking his head. He should turn around and run back. If Michael woke up early the next morning -- or Christin missed him…

While he thought, he set himself in motion again and kept walking down the streets. Always in one direction -- in the wrong one. But he couldn’t resist it. It was as if a certain house was luring him in. A house -- and its resident.

In front of the house door, he stayed still for a bit and listened. He found him straight away, although so there were so many other sleeping people in the immediate area.


	12. Two Outings

Mario was also sleeping, but restless.

Thomas bit his lip. He should vanish and do it as fast as possible. But he couldn’t, his legs didn’t belong to him anymore. Instead, they carried him closer to the house. In front of the house door he paused for a moment and looked up at the windows behind which Mario’s apartment lay.

He shut his eyes -- he could sense Mario exactly. In his bedroom. He was waltzing about here and there in his bed and seemed to be dreaming badly. He sighed quietly, and then he couldn’t hold himself back anymore. He had to get Mario out of his dream.

A couple of weeks ago, he had gotten a backup key from Mario, which he used for the first time to unlock the building door.

Quietly, as only his kind could, he slunk up the stairs and entered Mario’s apartment. He closed the door silently and crept across the floor to the bedroom. He felt how uneasy Mario was, even more than before. He was rolling about in his bed, and his thoughts were confused, Thomas noticed that, although he wasn’t trying to force himself into them.

Very carefully, he opened the door and entered the dark bedroom. Mario was sleeping, but still turning about anxiously in the bed. Thomas stayed by the door for a moment and watched Mario. He felt his thoughts and could smell his much too inviting scent. His thoughts were still very chaotic and were apparently stressing Mario. And the smell… damn, he should have stopped breathing when he first entered the apartment!

With an inaudible sigh, he pushed himself away from the wall and walked to the wide bed. Quietly, he sat down on the edge. He wasn’t breathing, the scent would have been too overwhelming, even though he actually wasn’t thirsty at all. Mario turned over again and with that motion, shoved a bit of the blankets to one side. For a second, Thomas stared at the naked skin, then he pulled the blanket higher again protectively.

He scooted up the bit a bit and laid a hand on Mario’s carefully. It only took a moment before Mario opened his eyes and looked at Thomas dazed. “You were having a bad dream,” Thomas whispered.

Mario hesitated, then he nodded. It took him a while before he collected his words. “Why are you here?”

Thomas shrugged. What was he supposed to say? That he was longing for him?

“How did you get here? Weren’t you with your family?”

Thomas shrugged again. “Our...phone call made me uneasy,” he eventually muttered.

“And so you come over here in the middle of the night? Do you…do you want to talk?” Mario was waking up slowly.

No, if he was honest, he didn’t want to talk. “Not really,” Thomas grinned wryly.

Mario wrinkled his forehead. “What… then why are you here? What’s making you so uneasy?”

“I… everything’s so confused in my head,” Thomas tried to explain.

Mario sighed quietly, even if he hadn’t been sleeping well, he at least had been sleeping. “Do you want to tell me about something?”

Thomas shook his head. “I can’t.”

“Then what can I do for you? You didn’t just come over for nothing.”

“I… no idea. I was suddenly here and…” Thomas shrugged his shoulders.

Not entirely convinced, Mario nodded. “In any event, it’s nice you’re here.”

Thomas smiled. “Even though I woke you up?”

“You’re always allowed to do that,” Mario smiled back and raised his free hand, letting it rest half on Thomas’ neck, half on his shoulder. Thomas swallowed. Mario’s touch was releasing an unbelievable longing in him. Very lightly, Mario stroked his skin and looked at him unsure.

Thomas returned the gaze mutely. He saw Mario swallow and then pull him very gently closer. If his heart could beat, it probably would have been racing because of excitement. But he could only keep staring at Mario silently.

He saw Mario run the tip of his tongue over his bottom lip nervously. He felt a tingle in his stomach that, in all the years which he’d already lived, he had never felt before. Slowly, Mario’s hand pulled him even closer to him. The heady scent coming from him enveloped Thomas completely.

He shut his eyes, then pulled his head backwards jerkily. Mario made a surprised sound. Thomas barely shook his head. He saw Mario swallow hard and then scoot away from him a bit.

“I’m sorry… I can’t -- I mustn’t. It won’t work,” Thomas muttered barely audible.

Mario didn’t say anything, rather averted his gaze. Thomas sighed quietly and brushed his shoulder gently. “If you knew…”

“What?” Mario asked and looked at Thomas with a mixture of anger and injury.

“Mario,” Thomas whispered and stroked the soft skin around his neck. Warm, and he could sense his pulse from here.

“Why are you doing this?” Mario asked and slowly, the anger vanished out of his gaze. “You… you want it too… or am I that mistaken?”

Thomas tried to smile at him to cheer him up. “You’re not mistaken. But…” He shook his head sadly. “We should let it go. It just won’t work.”

“And why not?”

Thomas shut his eyes resignedly, then shook his head. He couldn’t just tell him.

“No,” Mario said firmly. “Not like this. You come here in the middle of the night and we… we both feel it and not for the first time. And we both want it. And you want me to be satisfied with a ‘it just won’t work’?”

“I can’t hurt you. I wouldn’t be able to hold myself back,” Thomas whispered.

Mario shook his head. “I have no idea what you mean Thomas.”

Thomas hesitated for a second, then he grabbed Mario’s hand and laid it on his chest. Mario looked at him irritatedly, then wrinkled his forehead. “What?”

“What do you feel?” Thomas asked quietly.

“Nothing, what should…” Mario hesitated. “I… you don’t… have a pulse…”

Thomas only nodded. Mario tore his hand free and stared at Thomas. “What sort of sick game is this?”

“It’s not a game,” Thomas shook his head.

Mario swallowed hard. “You… you don’t have a pul… how can you be alive?” Thomas stroked Mario’s hand lightly. ‘How?” Mario asked with a raw voice. “Explain it to me!”

Thomas let himself take one deep breath. Mario smelled so seductive, so sweet and warm and… it wasn’t hard for him to let his canines grow a little bit. After a moment, during which Mario just stared at him, he bared his teeth. Mario gasped out loud and scooted himself even farther away from Thomas. Thomas held his breath again immediately. He looked at Mario sadly.

You… what… what are you?” Mario whispered.

“You know now, why I thought the movie recccently wasss ssso unrealissstic. Becaussse we…vampiresss are different…”

“There are no vampires,” Mario whispered.

“Then you tell me what I am,” Thomas asked quietly.

“I don’t know… I… don’t know anything anymore.”

“I’m sorry,” Thomas whispered barely audible.

Mario shut his eyes for a minute, then looked at Thomas penetratingly. “Why are you telling me a story like that?”

“I wish it weren’t a story, Mario, I wish it so badly. But… it’s the truth. How...how should I prove it to you?”

“If you don’t want me, then just say it, damn it all!” Mario cursed. “I’ve been rejected plenty of times in the past and can handle the truth.”

“I certainly wouldn’t have trusted you with my biggest secret to get rid of you. A simple ‘sorry, but you’re not my type’ would have worked there.”

“Then you’re staying with that?” Mario asked completely dumbfounded. “You’re maintaining that you’re a… a vampire? And why can you go outside in the sunlight? Why do you eat? Why do you sleep?”

“Not all rumors are true, Mario. The sun gives you headaches, if you don’t protect yourself. I can eat, but I can’t get any nourishment from it. But it tastes good. And I can sleep, everything sleeps,” Thomas explained quietly.

Mario snorted. “Sure. And everything with blood isn’t true either?”

“No, that’s true. But up to now, animal blood has always sufficed. The slaughterhouse in Isarvorstadt. They make cans.”

“Cans?” Mario released a slightly hysterical laugh. “Of course. A modern vampire drinks out of cans. It keeps their clothing looking so nice for sure.”

Thomas grinned crookedly. “I can’t exactly go hunting after training…”

Mario shook his head. He wanted nothing more than to pull the blankets back over his head and forget everything that had happened in the last few minutes. “Maybe I’m dreaming,” he muttered to himself.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have told you,” Thomas whispered. “But… you made it hard on me and… I like you far too much to keep lying to you.”

Mario shook his head again. He closed his eyes. “I’m dreaming… this is all just a shitty nightmare.”

“I wish it were,” Thomas whispered.

“There aren’t any vampires, Thomas.”

Thomas nodded. “And what am I then?”

“You’re Thomas, and you’re letting yourself to play a really shitty joke on me,” Mario whispered. “And I have no idea why. Did you make a bet with someone that you could get me to my wits’ end? Is that it?”

“Mario… I would never do that,” Thomas whispered. “I… you’re my best friend, I would never do something like this to you, if it weren’t the truth. And now I’m wishing I hadn’t said anything.”

“The truth?!” Mario asked and his voice cracked a bit. “The truth?”

“I’m so sorry,” Thomas whispered quietly. “So sorry…”

“Are you doing this because I’m gay?” mario asked. “Because you don’t want me as a friend anymore?”

Thomas shook his head immediately. “You’re my best friend, and I hope you’ll keep being that.”

“Then tell me the truth!”

“I… I’m a vampire. I was born on September 13, 1951. When I was 18 years old, I was bitten,” Thomas explained quietly. He would have prefered to see Mario’s feelings now, and influence him a little -- but he couldn’t, mustn’t do that.

“Oh great, you even thought up a whole story,” Mario said, this time noticeably derisive. “What’s coming next?”

“Do you want to see my birth certificate? Should I bring you to my mother’s grave -- she died in the beginning of the 80s. Before my supposed birth.” Thomas really didn’t know what else to do. “Mario… what should I do?”

“Tell me why you’re telling me such a story. What you were hoping to get out of it.”

“I had hoped that I didn’t have to keep lying to you,” Thomas whispered. “Things aren’t going well for me -- you mixed everything up. You smell so good, and… damn it, Mario, I have a crush on you.”

“Get out,” Mario whispered hoarsely.

“Mario, please,” Thomas whispered.

“Beat it!”

“Mario,” Thomas tried once more.

“Just fuck off already!” Mario screamed at him.

“Mario,” Thomas whispered trembling and left the bedroom quietly. He heard something hit the wall with a clang.

“Shit,” cursed Thomas. He didn’t know what he should do. Go? Stay? Try to influence Mario? But he would never forgive him for that.


	13. A Sleeping Aid

After a while, he sat down in the dark living room on the couch and listened to the sounds coming from the bedroom. It clanged once more, twice more, then it got calmer. Instead, he heard steps coming down the hallway into the kitchen. The refrigerator door was flung open forcefully and slammed shut heftily only seconds later.

“Shit,” Thomas whispered, and pulled his legs up onto the seat.

Why hadn’t he listened to his reason? Why did he have to tell Mario the truth at all? He could still have thought that Mario would believe him. Who believes such a story? But Mario had almost kissed him and had thrown all his plans out the window.

If they had kissed, he wouldn’t have been able to hold himself together anymore and would have bitten him.

But then at least Mario would have believed him…

Sadly, he laid his face on his knee. He heard steps in the hallway again and this time they came noticeably closer. He didn’t react, staying simply seated. Mario would be throwing him out again soon.

Mario entered the room without turning on the light. He went to the window, opened it, and leaned against the windowsill to look outside. Thomas still didn’t move at all. Ice cold air poured into the room and brought Mario’s scent closer to Thomas again.

Damn it, he still smelled so good, even now that he didn’t want to have anything more to do with him. Now that he, Thomas, had destroyed their friendship. A shiver ran through Mario’s body. He was only wearing boxers and a t-shirt. Goosebumps were starting to show up on his bare skin. He looked so unabashedly good, so lively -- even though he was freezing…

Eventually, Mario got too cold and closed the window, but stayed standing. With one hand, he reached for his telephone, which was sitting directly next to the window on a little side table. While doing so, his gaze fell onto the weakly-lit sofa. He flinched and the telephone fell to the floor with a dull thunk. “You’re still here,” he said emotionless.

In a fluid motion, Thomas stood up and nodded.

“Why?” Mario asked cooly. Thomas shrugged his shoulders. “There’s the door,” Mario pointed outside.

“Mario please,” Thomas whispered. “Can’t we just talk calmly?”

“You have another story for me?”

“I didn’t tell you a fake story Mario.”

“It’s clear. You’re a vampire, and I’m a werewolf.”

“No you’re not. I would be able to smell that. And besides, I don’t actually know if there even are such things,” Thomas muttered.

Mario looked at him, this time rather curious. “Smell?”

Thomas shrugged and nodded. “We...we hunt that way. Every human smells different.” Mario kept looking at him. “There… there are good scents,” Thomas continued quietly. “Smells that attract us. They’re different for everyone.” Mario still wasn’t saying anything, but was still listening to him. “You smell is… enticing. More than that. It draws me in, like nothing else ever has.”

Mario swallowed at that heavily. Hesitatingly, Thomas edged a bit closer to mario. “When I’m near you, then I can barely pull together a clear thought. I have to gather all of my willpower to…”

“To not bite me,” Mario whispered barely audibly. Thomas nodded silently. “Why don’t you?”

“What?” Thomas asked and tore his eyes open.

“I asked you something.”

“You… I can’t just…” Thomas shook his head. The question met him completely unprepared. How was he supposed to make his problem understandable to Mario?

“What is it?”

“I don’t bite my friends,” Thomas explained. “Before a couple of days ago, I’d only ever drunk animal blood. But something else has changed and I need human blood now. But I… I don’t want to bite any people.”

Mario was still looking at him. It made Thomas unsure to not know what he felt.

“Say something,” he asked eventually. “Please Mario, say something.”

“What do you want?” Mario asked quietly.

“I… I want us to keep being friends,” Thomas whispered. “You’re too important to me and I don’t want to lose you.”

Mario just kept looking at him.

“I… if you want, then I can make you forget everything,” Thomas whispered doubtfully. “You won’t remember anything and we can just keep being friends.”

“Make me forget?” Mario asked quietly.

Thomas nodded. “I can… manipulate memories.”

Mario gulped. “And… how often…?”

“Never,” Thomas said straight-off. “I’ve never influenced you.”

“But… you can?”

“Sometimes it’s the only way to not be discovered,” Thomas nodded. “Like with medical checks or when I buy blood.”

Mario nodded unsure. Even though he didn’t want to believe it -- somehow it seemed to be starting to make sense. Thomas relaxed a little bit. “You’re freezing,” he muttered and looked at Mario.

Mario hesitated for a second, then nodded. “You’re not?”

“I feel warm and cold differently,” Thomas explained, shaking his head. Mario gulped visibly, but didn’t make a sound. Carefully, Thomas reached out a hand towards Mario’s. “I don’t want you to catch cold.” Mario took a half step towards him, but then stayed still, with one foot still in the air.

“What’s wrong?” Thomas asked unsure.

Carefully, Mario shook his head. “I don’t know,” Mario whispered.

Thomas swallowed. “Just tell me what I should do, and I’ll do it.”

“I don’t know,” Mario whispered.

“Should… should I go?”

A definite pause, then Mario shook his head. A small smile spread across Thomas’ lips.

“Do you want… why didn’t you want to kiss me?” Mario asked quietly.

“Because then I would lose control.”

“And bite me. Would… Would I be dead then? Or… also a…?”

Thomas shook his head. “I… it’s hard to explain. You smell so good and I… I’m afraid that I’ll hurt you.”

“What happens when you bite someone?” Mario wanted to know.

Thomas shifted from one foot to the other uneasily. “I don’t really have much experience with it. I’ve practically only lived off of animal blood.”

Mario nodded, then yawned slightly.

“You belong in bed,” Thomas said immediately.

Mario shrugged his shoulders. “You too, you’re still…” The “sick” was barely audible.

“I… can’t actually get sick,” Thomas shook his head. “I just wanted a… bit of distance from everything, so that I could get myself better under control.”

“I barely know anyone who’s got himself better under control than you,” Mario muttered.

“That’s not quite true,” Thomas grinned wryly. “Come on, we’ll talk more tomorrow. You really need some sleep.”

“And you? I mean… where were you today? At your family’s? Don’t you have to drive back?”

“I… ran.”

“How -- ran? That’s over 50 kilometers!” Mario asked uncomprehendingly.

“Closer to 60,” Thomas nodded. “That… I’m faster than normal people…”

Mario nodded, “After the movie,” he muttered.

Thomas grinned wryly. “Exactly. I… you were so close and I… I needed to get away, I didn’t pay attention.”

Mario nodded. “I could barely keep up…”

“Sorry,” Thomas mumbled.

Mario just nodded. “What else is different?”

“Still not enough for today?” Thomas asked with a sly grin.

Mario shrugged. “I still don’t know what I should think about it all…”

“I understand,” Thomas said. “It… is kind of a lot all at once.”

Somehow resigned, Mario ran his hand through his hair. It was obvious that he didn’t know what he should do.

“Go to bed Mario. You’re dog-tired,” Thomas said softly.

“And you?” Mario asked quietly.

“I don’t need to sleep. But I’ll… stay if you want.”

Mario paused. “I don’t know. Don’t you need to get back to your parents… Sorry… to your relatives?”

Thomas shrugged his shoulders. “I could call Michael. Michael is my nephew and took over the family farm.”

Mario gazed at him for a short moment, then he nodded. “How old are you again?”

“I was born in 1951,” Thomas told him. “And when I was 18 I was bitten and changed over.”

“And… that makes you… how do you feel? Like… like you’re almost 60 or like you’re barely 20? I mean -- don’t we bother you, us youngsters?”

“You don’t bother me,” Thomas shook his head. “I feel like I’m twenty, not sixty. Since I was bitten, I have… lived a very different life. I had to learn a lot and find my way in the world.”

Mario nodded again lightly, but didn’t say anything else. “Sleep?” Thomas suggested.

Unsure, Mario nodded. “I can try…”

“Should… should I help you? With sleeping?” Thomas offered hesitantly.

“What… do you mean?” Mario asked and grabbed his own neck subconsciously.

“No biting,” Thomas shook his head immediately. “I… I can help you fall asleep, if you want. By calming your thoughts a little bit.”

Mario considered, for a long time, and Thomas felt uncomfortable for even making the suggestion, but then he nodded. “I… be careful though, ok?”

“I would never hurt you,” Thomas said seriously.

Not entirely sure, Mario nodded. “Then… bewitch me.”

Thomas grinned crookedly. He grabbed Mario’s hand and led him into the bedroom. “Lay down,” he requested quietly. Mario nodded and snuggled into bed. Thomas set down next to him on the edge and stroked his hair. Just very briefly, but he just couldn’t hold himself back in that moment.

“Try… Try to relax yourself,” he whispered. Mario gulped noticeably, then he closed his eyes. For a while, Thomas just looked at him, and then he carefully pushed himself into Mario’s feelings.

He felt what Mario felt. Mario was uneasy, excited, and even a bit frightened, and yet he still trusted Thomas. Thomas shut his eyes and concentrated on taking several deep slow breaths, through which Mario would also become calmer. He passed on his own state of health, so as not to influence Mario more than was absolutely necessary.

It took a minute, but then Mario relaxed markedly. His pulse slowed down, just like his breathing.

Thomas thought about comfortable, calming situations -- the sun on the beach, back when he had gone on vacation with his parents. Laying on a sunny meadow, while cows grazed next to him. Sitting in an apple tree in the garden and gazing at the countryside.

Slowly, he sensed Mario drop off. There was a small smile spread across his lips. Sometime he had grasped Thomas’ hand and was clutching it tightly.


	14. A Night and a Morning

Thomas smiled softly. Mario looked relaxed, and it felt so good that he was relaxed even though he knew. Even though he probably still didn’t believe it completely. But that was understandable. He had reacted exactly the same in the beginning -- even worse -- when he had found out what he was.

Jakob had tried to break it to him very carefully -- he had had very bad experiences with another young vampire. But he still hadn’t wanted to believe it. Hadn’t wanted to believe that his life was suddenly at an end and was continuing as a vampire, a monster. But he hadn’t been able to refuse to accept it -- he was what he was. Mario, on the other hand, had a choice. And he would never in his wildest dreams influence Mario somehow. He was happy just with Mario could even put up with being near him. Even sleeping near him -- that was a huge proof of trust. Thomas could bite him without any problem -- and yet Mario was simply sleeping.

Very gently, Thomas stroked Mario’s cheek with his free hand. A bit rough from stubble, and so nicely warm. Warmth, Thomas was missing warmth in that moment particularly. He ran his fingers lower, over Mario’s chin and neck, until he felt the pulse under his fingertips. It beat slowly and steadily.

Thomas could feel the blood, could smell it. So intensive, so seductive. But it wasn’t just Mario’s blood that was so attractive to him. It was everything about him. He hesitated a bit, then slid farther onto the bed and laid down next to Mario. His body heat radiated through the blankets and his scent surrounded Thomas. He was still holding Mario’s hand and edged himself as close to him as possible.

That enticing smell -- it wasn’t easy for Thomas to hold himself back. Mario’s carotid artery was drawing him in like magic. He closed his eyes and touched Mario’s neck with the tip of his nose. So warm, so sweet, so precious… But he mustn’t. Not like this, while Mario was sleeping.

No, he wasn’t allowed to do it at all. Not when Mario was sleeping nor when he was awake. No, he wasn’t going to drink any more human blood, he had taken that upon himself and he would also be seeing it through! Who knew what would happen, if he really drank Mario’s blood? Would he maybe fall into a bloodlust and not be able to stop before he sucked Mario completely dry? And Mario certainly wouldn’t be able to resist -- because he didn’t have a vampire’s strength -- and because he wouldn’t want to.

Because Mario… He swallowed. Mario wanted him. He had wanted to kiss him. Had he subconsciously influenced, or had Mario really wanted it? What if he really had influenced Mario? If Mario only wanted him, desired him, because he, Thomas, wanted it, and not he himself? He needed to ask Jakob about that and as fast as possible.

He closed his eyes and tried to relax. That wasn’t easy for him -- but still, it just felt good. It was simultaneously wonderful and horrible to be so close to Mario. He had stopped breathing, because that would just make everything even worse. Instead, he simply enjoyed the closeness, the warmth that were coming from Mario’s body, and tried to calm down a little bit.

He was barely aware of time passing. The alarm clock’s ringing startled him. And not just him, but also Mario, who needed a moment at first and then just stared at him mutely -- and felt his neck with his fingers.

“Don’t worry,” Thomas whispered. “I didn’t bite you.”

Mario looked at him with big eyes. “Then… I didn’t dream it all?”

Thomas shook his head.

“Shit…”

“My… my offer still stands,” Thomas muttered. “I can make you forget everything.”

Mario paused for a second then shook his head. “I’ll come to terms with it -- I think.”

Thomas smiled involuntarily. “That’s… that’s great.”

“Who… who knows about you?” Mario asked quietly.

“My nephew Michael, and Jakob,” Thomas told him. “Jakob is… my mentor, I would call it.”

“Jakob… isn’t he also your agent?” Mario asked him.

Thomas nodded with a grin. “He is. I have a lot to thank Jakob for. Without him, I wouldn’t have survived very long after my transformation.”

Mario looked at him for a long time. “What happened?” he wanted to know.

“The vampire who bit me vanished into thin air,” Thomas told him quietly. “Jakob found me by accident and took care of me.”

“Doesn’t a vampire know what to do? I mean -- follows instinct or something?

“Yeah,” Thomas said. “But… you’re like an infant. Incredibly weak and helpless. I… was surrounded entirely by humans and overwhelmed by the scent of blood. And then there was the sun…”

“And then?” Mario asked further.

“My family thought that I was sick,” Thomas continued. “Jakob presented himself as a doctor and nursed me so that I was healthy enough to travel. Then we took a trip to the sea together. He told my family that I needed a change of climate.

“And then you learned everything that you needed to know,” Mario decided rather than asking. Thomas nodded wordlessly. “And… what all did you learn?”

“How to protect myself from the sun, how to use my powers, how… how to hunt,” Thomas counted off.

“What… what for powers?” Mario asked, although Thomas wasn’t entirely sure that he really wanted to know.

Thomas sighed. “My speed for example. I needed to relearn how to move like a human. Or my strength. Vampires are stronger than humans. And obviously also the things with feelings and memories.”

“You can… manipulate memories.”

“If it has to come to that, yes,” Thomas nodded. “But I only do it in emergency situations.

Mario just nodded, he seemed to want to just let the information sit for a while first. Thomas watched him alert but stayed silent too.

“Yesterday evening,” Mario whispered after a while. “That… that was unbelievable. How fast I got tired. And I slept really well.”

“I’m glad I could help you,” Thomas smiled.

“Would you do that before our next game again? Maybe I’ll score better then.” Thomas tore his eyes open and laughed at that, and again as Mario added, “Or does that count as doping?”

“I… have no idea,” Thomas giggled.

Now Mario was also grinning, finally. “Vampire doping?”

“I don’t think anyone would be able to prove it,” Thomas said with a wink.

Mario nodded mischievously. “At least now I have an option when I’m laying awake before a match.”

Thomas smiled radiantly. “Then… then we’re still friends?”

Mario nodded. “If we weren’t, I wouldn’t have let you here in my bed.” Without thinking, Thomas hugged Mario tightly. After a little bit, Mario managed to relax halfway in his arms.

“I’m so happy,” Thomas whispered.

Mario nodded gently. “Me too…”

Thomas held the hug for a minute longer, then released himself from Mario. He couldn’t resist his warmth and closeness anymore. Mario smiled at him, still rather unsure, but he was smiling. Thomas rubbed his back briefly, then slid back onto his side, relieved that everything would be back to normal between them soon.

“I… need to get up soon,” Mario said quietly. “Shower and… go to training.”

Thomas nodded. “And I should let myself be seen back in Pähl. But -- it’s so light out I won’t be able to run. Can you drop me off at mine quick, so I can pick up my car?

“Of course,” Mario said straightaway. “When… when are you coming back to training?”

“I think tomorrow,” Thomas shrugged. “I’ll have to take care of the doc first…”

Mario grinned wryly. “Then… there won’t be anything left will there? If you do it often?”

“Would you rather seek out a different doctor?” Thomas asked and laughed. “But no, I’ll just convince him that I’d already been by and that I’m healthy again.”

“Good,” Mario nodded and looked at the clock again. “I really need to stand up now.”

Thomas just nodded. Mario hesitated and seemed to want to say something else. Eventually, he shook his head practically imperceptibly and shoved himself out of bed. Once he had left the room, Thomas fell back down onto the bed. He still wasn’t breathing. Instead, he rolled slightly over to Mario’s side and snuggled into his pillow to suck up the remaining body heat.

Body heat was something he especially missed. His body was still cool. Other than last night. Then, Mario’s nearness had warmed him. It had felt so good. Warm and secure. Was that normal because he wanted Mario so badly? He really needed to talk to Jakob as soon as possible.


	15. A Name for a Foal

He didn’t wait, but grabbed his phone out of his pants pocket immediately. He dialed Jakob’s number and waited impatiently for him to answer. “Hey, little one,” he was greeted like usual.

“I told Mario,” Thomas didn’t wait around with formalities.

“Oh,” Jakob said. “And?”

“He… he believes me now. I was even allowed to help him fall asleep,” Thomas told him. “But it’s… everything is so confusing.”

“You… oh…”

“What?”

“He believes you -- and isn’t afraid of you? I’ve never heard of that before.”

Thomas gulped. Should he be happy about that or uneasy. “We… almost kissed,” he whispered.

Jakob hesitated for a moment. “Be careful Thomas,” he warned urgently. “That can quickly go south.”

Thomas snorted. “Thanks, that’s exactly what I wanted to hear. So… should I stay away from him?”

“No I didn’t say that. Just be careful that you don’t overwhelm him.”

Thomas nodded. “I’ll try. Jakob can… is it possible that I’ve been influencing him subconsciously? That that’s why he wanted to kiss me yesterday?”

It took a while before Jakob answered. “I don’t think so. You can’t influence him that much. Maybe you could give him the courage to really do it, but… have you ever managed to shake a person from their resolve? You can only ever tell them what they want to believe.”

“Then… he wanted it?” Thomas asked and felt a small tingle near his stomach.

“He wanted it,” Jakob confirmed.

“And what am I supposed to do now?”

“Wait. You have time. Give Mario the time he needs -- and even then approach it very slowly. If… if you even want it.”

“I want him,” Thomas said immediately. “But… I have no idea if he wants me. Or if he’d want to be with a vampire. Besides, I’m scared I’ll hurt him.”

“Did you hurt Lars?”

Thomas shook his head. “But Lars isn’t Mario and only smelled half as good…”

He heard Jakob laugh quietly. “It’s not that easy to hurt a person -- they’re not exactly fragile.”

“And if I can’t stop?” asked Thomas. “If his blood is so intoxicating that I…”

“You won’t,” Jakob was sure. “I’ve never heard of anyone who’s killed their partner or even seriously injured them. Obviously it could happen that you drink a little bit too much once in awhile, but never more than making him a little tired and weak-feeling.”

This time, Thomas smiled really relieved. “Thank you.”

“No problem, little one,” Jakob smiled.

“Mario’s done with the shower,” Thomas decided in that moment. “I’ll call you back later.”

“Until then,” Jakob said.

Thomas hung up and shoved his phone back into his pants pocket. Then he stood up and went into the kitchen. Coffee, toast, muesli -- he knew what Mario enjoyed eating for breakfast. A bit later, Mario came in. “Thanks,” he said and pointed at the set table.

Thomas shrugged. “It’s the least I could do…”

“You’ll… eat with me?” Mario asked while he was sitting down.

Thomas nodded. “Gladly.”

Mario smiled. “Great. It would be weird if you just… sat next to me.”

“Like I said, I enjoy eating sometimes -- even though I don’t have to.”

“And it still tastes normal for you?” Mario asked.

“Intenser, but I can’t really tell anymore. But not like dust, like you read about so often.”

“You really are quite different from storybook vampires,” Mario muttered.

Thomas laughed. “That’s why I like vampire movies so much. And novels. All the stuff in there… it always makes me feel so… human afterwards.” Mario also chuckled a bit.

Thomas spread butter on some bread, Mario gave him a glass of coffee, and they ate breakfast comfortably.

“We should go soon,” Mario said after a while.

Thomas nodded and stood up. So fast that Mario couldn’t watch him, he cleared the table and put the extra food away. “Wow,” Mario muttered and looked at Thomas with big eyes. Thomas just laughed quietly. “Was… that your normal pace?” Mario asked.

“It’s close to it,” Thomas said. “In the morning, I’m usually a bit slower. And if I don’t have to be careful to not break anything, then things go a bit faster too.”

“Incredible,” Mario muttered, shaking his head.

Thomas laughed quietly. “I like getting stuff done sometimes…”

“Isn’t it hard for you in training to act as if you were as slow as we are?”

“I’ve learned,” Thomas shrugged his shoulders. “But in the beginning I had to practice with Jakob a lot. And sometimes it still takes me over -- like after the movie recently.”

“But you said that… I was to blame then,” Mario retorted.

Thomas nodded. “You… totally confused me. I couldn’t think anymore.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s not your fault that you smell so good…” Mario grinned sheepishly. It was weird for Thomas to say things like that. Weird, but not bad. “Come on we have to go,” Thomas interrupted them eventually.

Mario nodded and pulled on his shoes and a jacket quickly. Thomas hadn’t brought anything else, so they could drive off a short time later. They were silent during the drive. Eventually, Mario stopped in front of Thomas’ house. “Then we’ll see each other tomorrow?”

Thomas nodded. “I’ll come back to training then,” he promised.

“Nice,” Mario smiled.

Thomas smiled too. “I’m looking forward to it already.”

“Me too. Then… have a good time with your relatives today.”

“Thanks, we will. Oh hey, do you have an idea for a name for a foal? Black, girl, born yesterday?”

“A foal?” Mario asked irritatedly.

“My nephew got a new offspring yesterday morning.”

Mario thought about it for a moment. “She’s black you said? What about Negra?”

Thomas considered it for a bit then nodded. “That sounds nice, I’ll suggest it to Michael.”

“Take a picture of her,” Mario requested. “I have to see who I gave a name to.”

“Just come with me next time. And don’t worry, I’m the only vampire there.”

Surprised, Mario nodded. “I’d love too.”

“Good, that’s settled then.”

“Then off with you,” Mario grinned. “Otherwise I’ll definitely be late.”

“See you tomorrow,” Thomas said and opened the passenger’s door.

He went to his car and then turned around to face Mario. Beaming blue eyes followed his every move.

He smiled at Mario one more time, then climbed into his car. He took his first deep breath here. A bit of Mario’s scent was still around him, but it was nowhere near as intense as it was in his direct vicinity.

The whole time he had tried to breath as little as possible, he just needed a bit of air to be able to speak. But even that had managed to drive him sheerly crazy. Mario scent, his warmth, his closeness, that he could feel so clearer than any other human. And his trust, that he still couldn’t quite believe.

Even Jakob had been surprised by that. But Jakob had also told him that Mario was serious and not in anyway manipulated by him.

Jakob’s explanation sounded plausible -- up to now, people had always wanted to believe what he told them. He had only ever bent reality a little bit, instead of claiming the exact opposite. And then that also meant that Mario… liked him. So much that they had almost kissed.

He started his car. Mario still hadn’t driven off yet, he could feel that. Involuntarily, he turned his head and looked at Mario’s car across the drive. Mario was watching him.

Thomas swallowed. He wasn’t used to being looked at in such a way. So… lusted after. And that with Mario knowing what he was. Shouldn’t he be afraid and try to get away from him? Shouldn’t he hate him -- or at least institutionalize him?

But he hadn’t felt a single spark of hate, even during the night. Fear and uncertainty, yes, but no hate. And the fear had also vanished, Mario was at most still a little uncertain. How were things supposed to continue? Jakob had told him that he should approach it slowly and not overwhelm Mario. And at the moment, they were also letting it progress slowly. But he didn’t know if he wanted to risk the danger.

If he could risk it. What if Jakob was mistaken? If he actually would hurt Mario? He would never forgive himself. Besides, he had promised himself he wouldn’t bite another human. Never again. He hadn’t had himself under control anymore, and he simply couldn’t risk it with Mario.

Thomas shook his head, no, he couldn’t. But what was he supposed to do then? He would have to make his point of view clear to Mario again. And hope that he understood it. They would be able to continue being best friends, but nothing more.

Thomas nodded decided and finally drove off. In the mirror, he saw that Mario was also just now driving away. But he didn’t pay anymore attention to him, instead drove straight out of the city towards Pähl.


	16. Back in Pähl

A bit under an hour later, he drove up the driveway to the farm and parked next to Michael’s car. Christin’s van wasn’t in front of the door anymore, apparently both children were already at kindergarten.

He had just gotten out when Michael came out of the stable. “Hey, you bum,” he grinned at him.

“Sorry,” Thomas said.

“It’s fine. Were you at home last night?”

“I… was at Mario’s,” Thomas told him.

“Oh,” Michael said. “And? Did he taste good?”

“I didn’t bite him,” Thomas said clearly straight away. “I would never do that.”

“I know,” Michael nodded. “Let me tease you for once!”

Thomas grinned sheepishly. “Sorry. It’s just a… difficult topic.”

“No worries,” Michael smiled at him and threw his arm over Thomas’ shoulders to pull him inside the house. “And now, tell me.”

Thomas let himself be pulled along and began talking. How he had run off yesterday and had suddenly been standing in front of Mario’s house. How he told him everything and how Mario had reacted. He also told Michael about the phone conversation with Jakob.

Michael simply listened to him, pouring him a cup of coffee from the thermos in the meanwhile, but didn’t say anything until Thomas finished with: “Honestly, I’m even more confused than I was before.”

“So things aren’t any different for you vampires than us normal humans,” Michael grinned. “On the other hand -- you want him, he wants you… seems pretty clear.”

Thomas shook his head. “It’s not. I can’t do it. How do I know that Jakob’s really right? And what if I hurt Mario? If I drink too much blood and… kill him?”

Michael nodded. “Do you really think it’s that dangerous?”

“No idea. But can I risk it?”

“You always risk something -- the question is how big the danger is. It would be a shame if it won’t work out, but you’re the one to know.”

Thomas sighed and buried his face in his hands. “But I don’t know either…”

He felt a warm hand on his back. “Relax…”

“Easy for you to say,” Thomas grumbled.

Michael sighed quietly. “You’ll find a solution, even if it doesn’t seem like it at the moment. Give yourself a couple days of peace. Mario’s not going to run away.”

Thomas nodded and looked at Michael. “Actually, I’ve already decided. I want to keep Mario as a friend, but anything else won’t work. I can’t use him like that.”

Michael nodded. “Then I hope you can stick to it.”

Thomas looked at Michael gratefully. He was happy that his nephew wasn’t trying to shake him from his decision. “By the way, I asked Mario about a name for your foal,” he changed the topic.

“And -- what did he suggest?”

“Negra,” he said.

“Negra? That’s Spanish, isn’t it?”

Thomas nodded. “Mario’s half-Spanish. Negra means black.”

“Then her name is Negra. In any event, it’s better than Pirate-Bride.”

“And it’s easy enough that the kids’ll be able to remember the name too,” Thomas said with a smile.

“Do you want to see her?”

Thomas nodded immediately and stood up. “I invited Mario to come with me here sometime so he can meet her too. That’s ok, right?”

“Of course, I’m looking forward to meeting him already. When does he want to come?”

“We’ll see,” Thomas shrugged. “We have a couple of important matches still coming up.”

“Oh come on, it’s not that far away. And he should get to know Negra.”

Thomas laughed quietly. “I’ll ask him tomorrow,” he promised.

“Then you’re staying the night?”

“I wanted to drive from here straight to training tomorrow morning,” Thomas nodded. “I always have things in the trunk so that I don’t have to stop by home before anymore.”

“Great, the kids’ll be happy about that,” Michael nodded. “They should be home soon.”

Thomas smiled and followed Michael into the stable. He stayed standing near Senegal for a bit and pet the gelding’s nose, then he slowly continue on to Ankala and Negra’s stall.

He immediately felt the uneasiness that he released in the stable and kept to the wall. Ankala also looked at him somewhat aggressively and protected her foal with her body.

“Shh,” Michael said and went to Ankala to calm her. “Thomas won’t do anything to you and Negra.”

Very slowly, the horse calmed down until Michael could scoot her a bit to the side so that Thomas could see the foal.

“Negra’s a fitting name,” Thomas said with a smile.

“Come on girl… Thomas won’t hurt you,” he nudged the foal closer to the aisle.

Very slowly, Thomas edged closer until he was crouching in the gate, just a little bit away from Negra.

Curious, the foal came closer.

Thomas’ smile deepened and he stretched out a hand. “Come here, baby,” he whispered.

Very slowly, Negra took one, two steps closer, until Thomas could actually touch her.

Very softly, he stroked the foal’s smooth black coat. “You really are a cute one,” he said.

Ankala was watching him like a hawk, but didn’t make any noise -- she trusted Micahel enough to let Thomas near her foal.

“Do you like your name? Negra?” Thomas muttered.

The baby took another small step closer unsure and let herself be pet through the stall’s open door.

Thomas looked at Michael and smiled broadly. “She’s really a fantastic animal.”

In that moment, the proud owner shown out in Michael, who was beaming across his entire face. “She really is very beautiful. And strong, look at her legs.”

“Do you think she’ll be a racing horse?” Thomas grinned.

“We’ll see, you never know. But she has good genes.”

Thomas nodded. Negra’s father was a good racehorse in fact who had won several tournaments.

“But maybe she’ll just stay here on the farm,” Michael shrugged. “Horses are more a hobby for me.”

“Wait and see,” Thomas nodded. “You have some time to make a decision.”

“A couple of years,” Michael grinned. “Will you let her go? Ankala wants her back.”

Thomas nodded and stood up carefully, so as not to scare the foal.

She didn’t pay any more attention to him, but ran straight back to her mother looking for teats.

Thomas brushed some straw off his knees and waited for Michael who left the stall again and closed the door.

“She really is a sweetheart,” Thomas smiled once more towards the stable.

Michael nodded. “And she’s not afraind of you.”

Thomas’ smile broadened. “It could still come, but right now it’s really nice. I’ve never even seen your dogs and cats, and even with Senegal it’s difficult every time.”

“But Senegal lets you ride him,” Michael said. “Ankala would rather bite your backside than bear you.”

Thomas chortled. “True, and you have no idea how much I enjoy that. That is, riding, not biting.”

“Of course, you’re more of a biter yourself,” Michael grinned.

Thomas had to laugh quietly. “Of course, always!”

“Stick to your striker, he definitely tastes better than a horse,” Michael said.

“I don’t bite my striker either,” Thomas said curtly.

“That’s your choice,” Michael nodded. He looked at his watch. “Let’s go see if Christin is back with the children yet.”

Thomas nodded immediately. “I hope I didn’t cause too much trouble, taking off last night like that.”

“No,” Michael said. “I told her that you had an appointment early this morning.”

“Thanks,” Thomas smiled at him. “It’s nice to have you standing with me.”

“Always,” Michael said seriously. “Even though I would wish you a bit of luck in love.”

Thomas shook his head. “If a vampire doesn’t show up sometime, then that’ll never be anything.”

Michael patted Thomas encouragingly on the shoulder. “You should never say never.”

“Yes you should,” Thomas contradicted. “It’s too dangerous for me. I like him so much, maybe so much that i can’t take any risks.”

“Does Jakob think so too?” Michael asked.

“Jakob doesn’t know. He had a partner once, but… I won’t have a partner. Certainly not a human one.”

“Ok,” Michael said. “I have no clue about these things. But if you want to talk, I’m always here for you.”

“Thanks for being there.”

“Family has to stick together,” Michael smiled.

“Then I’m happy to have you all,” Thomas looked at him seriously grateful. Michael shrugged a bit embarrassed. Thomas smiled at him once more, then went first towards the house. Christin and the children were in fact already back and they were probably sitting in the comfortable kitchen already.

As soon as they stepped foot in the house, they heard the raucous children’s voices. “Uncle Thomas, were you already with the baby?” Marie rushed up to him immediately.

Thomas nodded and picked Marie up. “I was. And we found a nice name for her too.”

“What’ll she be called? What’ll she be called?” she asked immediately, excited.

“Negra,” Thomas told her.

“Negra? Negra! Mama, the baby horse is named Negra!” Mario turned in his arms so that it was hard for him to keep a hold of her without hurting her.

Laughing, he set her back down on the ground and she ran off to Christin in the kitchen. “Mama, the baby’s named Negra,” she called at her mother.

Christin looked at Thomas.

“It’s Mario’s suggestion. Spanish, and it’s pretty fitting for the little black girl.”

“Aha, a suggestion from Mario,” Christin grinned.

“Yep,” Thomas nodded. “I told him yesterday evening about the baby.”

“So that was your important appointment,” Christin smiled. “And? Don’t spill the beans all at once.”

Thomas swallowed, Christin probably shouldn’t have found out where he was. “No and,” he muttered a bit defeated.

Christin crinkled her forehead, then she set the bowl she had been stirring to the side. “He… oh Thomas, I’m so sorry,” she said quietly and hugged him tightly. “You’ll find someone else.”

Thomas leaned into her and closed his eyes. “It’s ok,” he said.

Christin nodded and kissed him on the cheek. “Sit down, I’m almost done with the pancake batter.”

Thomas felt a smile on his lips immediately, he had always really liked pancakes.

He sat down at the kitchen table, while Christin got a large pan out of the cupboard and placed it on the stove.

A bit later, he had the first large pancake on his plate and was spreading it with tasty homemade marmelade.

David and marie were sitting next to him and telling him loudly over each other about their day in kindergarten.

Thomas smiled to himself while he was listening to them. They were so excited about little trivialities, as only children could be.

Everything was new and exciting for them. They uncovered a brand new world every day and he was a bit jealous of them for that.

He himself had already spent years discovering the world, and there were so many still to come.

But he would be alone doing that, with Jakob as his only constant companion. All of his other friends and family would age before his eyes and die sometime.

He had already lived through it with his siblings, and with Michael, Christin, their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren -- it would keep happening.

That was also a reason why he couldn’t let things with Mario happen. It would just bond him tighter to him and he didn’t know how he would be able to survive. See Mario age and sometime stand at his grave.

That was the true curse of the vampire -- the immortality. Of course it sounded cool, but if you thought about it, it really wasn’t. At the end of the day, it only meant loneliness. You could do everything you ever wanted. You could travel, see the world. But when you came back, there wasn’t anyone there to share the memories with. Because the people that you had known weren’t there anymore.

Involuntarily, he sighed -- he couldn’t change it, but he was still afraid of it.

“So bad?” Christin asked.

“I’m getting used to it,” Thomas muttered.

“And there’s no hope at all?” Christin asked.

Thomas shook his head and ate another bite of his pancake.

“And why not?”

Thomas sighed again, then he asked, “Let’s talk about something else, ok?”

Christin considered him, then she nodded.

And soon, Marie and David distracted them.

After lunch, he and Michael went out to do some handiwork on the farm and he succeeded in actually not thinking about Mario, concentrating on the work instead. And he was well-distracted from Mario in the evening too, when Christin and Michael pulled out a few nice board games, “finally we have someone to play with”.

Eventually, Christin and Michael went to bed, and Thomas was alone again with himself and his thoughts. The thoughts about Mario. About mario who liked him, was in love with him -- and who had tried the first step. He had even accepted that he was a vampire! And he had done that astonishingly quickly. Thomas couldn’t say what had convinced him that he wasn’t lying. And that he wouldn’t bite him.

In Mario’s place, he probably would have reacted differently. And he definitely wouldn’t have let himself help with falling asleep. What a proof of trust! And in the morning, when they woke up next to each other, Mario didn’t become panicked either. He had kept laying down next to him peacefully, as if it were completely normal.

He shook his head a bit. How could anyone be like Mario? But maybe that was actually the reason why he liked Mario so much. Because he was different. At first glance, Mario seemed very arrogant and conceited. But he wasn’t. He was simply a good friend and there for his friends. No matter what problems they had.

Thomas sighed deeply. But that was exactly why he absolutely didn’t have the right to destroy Mario’s life. And he wouldn’t do that either. Mario would hopefully understand when he explained everything to him.

With the decision to talk to Mario once more, he could finally relax and slip into the state he liberally referred to as sleep.


	17. Departure and Arrival

He felt when Michael started moving around in the bedroom beneath him. Quietly, so as not to awake the rest of the family, he stood up and got ready. In the kitchen, he began preparing breakfast. He would need to leave soon if he wanted to get to training on the team grounds in time. When Christin came into the kitchen, she smiled at him. “You can definitely visit more often!”

Thomas laughed. “I will.”

“Any time.”

“Next time I’ll bring Mario with me,” Thomas told her. “He wants to see Negra.”

“Sure, you’re both… do you think he’ll want to come? I mean -- will you manage it?”

“Of course,” Thomas said. “He’s still my best friend.”

Christin looked at him relieved.

“And now sit down,” Thomas nodded at the bench. “Today, it’s your turn to be served.” Christin didn’t need to be told twice, she sat down and watched Thomas preparing breakfast. A bit later, Michael came down with both children. Thomas sat down between the two kids at the breakfast table, and they began eating together.

“When do you have to head out?” Michael asked.

Thomas looked at the clock. “In a half hour.”

“Where are you going?” David asked.

“I have to go back home,” Thomas explained.

“You can’t stay here?” Marie asked and looked at him with big puppy dog eyes.

“Oh Marie,” Thomas looked at her seriously. “I really have to go back home. But I promise you that I’ll be back soon.”

“Really?”

“Really really. Cross my heart.” Marie looked at him for another moment, then she nodded apparently convinced.

“And when is soon?” David wanted to know.

“We’ll see,” Thomas said. “But I’ll bring a friend with me. He wants to see Negra.”

Immediately, beaming children’s eyes were staring at him -- they both loved having visitors. Thomas smiled. “You’ll both definitely get along well with Mario.”

Christin looked at both of her children. “So, time to get ready?”

“Already?” Marie whined.

“Say goodbye to Thomas and then go outside,” Christin nodded.

“Come here sweetie,” Thomas said. “I’ll be back soon.”

Not entirely convinced, Marie nodded. Thomas bent over her and kissed her softly on the forehead. “I love you, Marie.”

“I love you too, Thomas,” she replied seriously. Smiling, he stroked her hair, then looked at David. He played everything very cool saying goodbye to Thomas.

“Thanks again that I could just spring in on you like this,” he looked at Christin and Michael.

“If you thank us once more, you won’t be allowed to again,” Christin grinned and hugged him goodbye.

Thomas laughed and carefully squeezed her back. Then he also said goodbye to Michael. “Good luck with your plan,” Michael muttered to him.

“Thanks.” Then Thomas left the house and sat down in his car. It was always hard for him to say goodbye. He didn’t know when he’d be back. It wasn’t very far, but he couldn’t manage a visit very often. And who knew what it’d be like when the human blood in him lost its affect.

But he didn’t want to think about that now. Maybe everything would go well, and he would be able to manage with animal blood again. He nodded and drove off. Think positive, he said to himself, it’s not like he could just give up. He just got to the training grounds in time and changed quickly.

When the trainer saw him, he called him to him straight away. “Are you feeling better again?”

“Yep, everything’s been cured,” Thomas nodded.

“Have you already seen the doctor?”

Thomas shook his head. “I wanted to go after training.”

The trainer thought about it, then nodded. “Then go warm up.”

Thomas nodded and jogged off. Like always, he adapted to match the slow pace of his teammates.

“So, feeling fit again?” Michi asked him with a grin.

Thomas nodded. “It wasn’t anything horrible, I just wasn’t feeling that great. But one, two days without training doesn’t throw someone that far off.”

Michi nodded. “Mario already told us you were with your family and healed up there.”

“Yeah, it was good for me. It’s nice to let yourself be waited on a bit.”

“It is,” Michi confirmed.

Thomas nodded, even though there was a different reason why it was good that he had driven to Pähl.

“Ah, here comes Mario,” Michi said. “He’s pretty late today.”

Mario ran straight towards them.

“Hey,” he greeted them and smiled at Thomas first.

Thomas returned the smile just fleetingly, then kept running. He couldn’t look at Mario much longer.

“How are you doing?” Mario asked him.

Thomas shrugged. “I’m fine… you?”

“I… thought about a lot,” Mario said quietly.

“And?” Thomas asked him quietly. “Or… would it be better to talk later?”

“Later,” Mario said immediately. “Here… there’s too many people listening.”

Thomas nodded. “This afternoon, lunch?”

Mario smiled. “Sure.”

Thomas nodded at him once more, then they concentrated on training. He kept noticing Mario watching him. During the exercises as well as during the practice match. But they didn’t speak to each other until they were done with everything and had vanished out of the locker room with packed bags.

“Where… do we want to go?” Mario asked, as they went towards the parking lot.

Thomas shrugged. “Whatever you want.”

“How… we could get something and then eat at mine,” Mario suggested. “Then we’ll be less interrupted.”

Thomas nodded, “Sounds good. What?”

“Something Asian?”

“Pan noodles with vegetables?” Thomas suggested.

“Tasty,” Mario grinned.

“Do you want to drive or should I?”

“I did it yesterday morning,” Mario said and steered them determinedly towards Thomas’ car.

He just nodded and unlocked his car. They loaded their bags into the trunk and then climbed in. On the way, Thomas stopped by an Asian snack bar and got them lunch, then he drove on to Mario’s.


	18. On Control and Trust

Soon after, they were sitting in Mario’s living room eating their noodles with vegetables. Thomas first dared to look at Mario again when he ate the last bit of mushroom on his plate. Mario smiled unsure, but didn’t drop his gaze.

“What… were you thinking about?” Thomas asked quietly.

“About you and… everything.”

“And… what was the result…?”

Mario shrugged. “I don’t know. You… you’re different, I’ve gotten a mental grip on that. That thing with the thoughts and how fast you were…”

“If it bothers you…” Thomas murmured. “I can act completely normal. Like a human.”

“No,” Mario said quickly. “It’s just… strange.”

“I won’t influence you if you don’t want me to,” Thomas promised seriously.

“I know that. It’s still not so easy. I mean… a vampire! I’d never before believed that vampires really could exist.”

Thomas grinned involuntarily. “I reacted the same way back then…”

Mario smiled softly. “How… how many vampires are there?”

Thomas shrugged. “There aren’t a lot of us. Maybe around fifty, a hundred in Germany.”

“And no one knows anything,” Mario murmured shaking his head.

Thomas shook his head. “Only very few know about us. And it’s good that way. Most people would react completely panicky. You’re really a very special person, the way you reacted.”

“Really?” Mario asked surprised.

Thomas shrugged his shoulders. “Do you really think that everyone would let me bore into their thoughts and sleep next to them in bed?”

“I… no clue. Can’t you… just force people to let you?”

“If they didn’t consciously guard themselves against it, yes. Or do you think that the doc knows when I’m explaining to him that everything with my blood is in order?” Thomas grinned. “But I don’t do it when it’s not strictly necessary. And with you, I never would without your express permission.”

Mario nodded thoughtfully. “But could you? I mean, force me to do something?”

“Yeah, unless you knew what was coming and guarded yourself against it,” Thomas explained seriously.

Mario gulped visibly.

“I won’t influence you, I promise.”

Mario nodded again. “And you lot can… with… well…” He paused unsure.

“What?” Thomas asked.

Mario looked at his hands. “Can you be with people, or does that not work?”

Thomas gulped. “No it works. But…”

“But what?”

“I’m afraid. I don’t want to hurt you, I like you too much for that. I don’t know if I can control myself. You smell so good, how good must you taste?”

Mario gulped again. He still had a bit of a funny feeling about the biting. “You definitely wouldn’t hurt me,” Mario was still sure.

Thomas shook his head. “I would never forgive myself.”

“So what does that mean now?”

“That it won’t work between us. If I were human, then sure but… not like this.”

Mario leaned back and looked at him with an unreadable gaze. “You don’t mean that seriously, do you?”

Thomas nodded. “Of course I do.”

“And I should just be good and nod and keep playing the best friend?”

“What would be the alternative? That sometime I can’t hold myself back and kill you?”

“You say that so damn easily,” Mario snorted. “You smack me over the head with the fact that you’re a vampire and that’s why you don’t want to be with me, and I should just see that I accept it.”

“What else should I do?”

“Don’t just raise the white flag?”

“You have no idea,” Thomas muttered.

“You’re right,” Mario nodded. “I’m not a vampire. But I… I like you Thomas.”

“I like you too, way too much. But… it’s too dangerous. Recently, when I was with Lars… I didn’t have myself under control. And he didn’t smell half as good as you.”

“Did you hurt him?” Mario asked.

Thomas hesitated, then shook his head. “No, not him. But that was once. And I won’t risk it with you.”

“Fantastic,” Mario said angrily and stood up. “You have no idea even if something could happen, but say no straightaway just out of precaution.”

“I could kill you. Very, very easily.”

“I could also be hit by a car.”

“Well it’s more likely that I’ll suck you dry than that you’ll be driven over.”

“Who says that?” Mario asked, shaking his head.

“I know that. You have no idea how good you smell, and I don’t want to know how good you must taste.”

“Why don’t you just do it then?” Mario asked forcefully and walked towards him. “Go on, bite me, then we’ll finally know.”

“You’re crazy,” Thomas took a step back. He had to stop breathing, because Mario was just way too close.

Mario shook his head and followed him. He turned his head slightly, so that Thomas could see his neck. “Go on. I’m offering it to you. Willingly.”

The carotid artery was pulsing warm under his skin. “No, Mario, please…”

“You said that you won’t hurt me and I trust you,” Mario said quietly and took yet another step closer.

Thomas shook his head again. “That’s why I won’t bite you either,” he whispered.

“But you’re hurting me by not giving us a chance,” Mario declared.

“Mario, please understand,” Thomas begged and closed him in his arms. “Please -- don’t do this to me. If I were to hurt you -- I would never forgive myself.”

Mario let the hug be for a minute, then he freed himself from Thomas and took a step back. “Is that your final word?”

“I’m sorry,” Thomas nodded.

Mario swallowed and looked at the floor. “Then go,” he said flatly. Somewhat surprised, Thomas looked at him. “What?” Mario asked. “Do you think I can just cross this out and continue as if we were still friends? I’m sorry, but that’s not going to work Thomas.”

Quietly, Thomas sighed, then he nodded. “I’m sorry. I wish it could be different… but it just won’t work.”

“Spare your excuses,” Mario said cooly and turned away from him.

Thomas edged closer to Mario. “Could you do it? Put someone you liked so much in danger? It’s not like driving a car. It would only take one moment in which I didn’t have myself under control and you’d be dead. Sucked dry, crushed, how do I know how i could kill you.”

“I trust you Thomas,” Mario said with a head shake. “I know that you wouldn’t do anything to me.”

“But I don’t. How can you trust me if I can’t even trust myself?”

“Isn’t that part of liking someone?” Mario asked quietly. “When you… can imagine being with someone?”

Thomas shrugged. “Possibly… otherwise I wouldn’t have told you about me -- if I didn’t like you so much.”

“You trust me, yes,” Mario said. “But at the same time you’re pushing me away from you, so that I can’t get too close.”

“Because I trust you -- and not me.”

“That’s sad…”

“Maybe,” Thomas murmured. “But… it’s safer this way.”

“Safer,” Mario snorted. “And now? How do you think this is going to continue?”

“I wish we could still… be friends. I like you way too much to be able to avoid you.”

Mario shook his head. “I’m sorry, but that… won’t work so easily. I… allowed myself to hope. For weeks. I sensed there was something between us. I can’t just go on as if none of this has happened.”

“I’m so sorry that I’m disappointing you so much,” Thomas muttered. “But… do you understand me? At least a little bit?”

“No,” said Mario. “I probably can’t because I don’t know what it’s like… to be like you.”

“I’m just afraid, that I… I’ve never killed anyone yet, and I wouldn’t like you to be the first.”

Mario shook his head. He didn’t want to hear anything more. All he wanted at that moment was for Thomas to vanish. But instead he was walking slowly towards Mario.

“What else do you want?” Mario asked. “You’re hurting me Thomas, please just go already.”

Quietly, Thomas sighed and turned around to leave. Mario stayed standing stock still, looking at the floor. “I’m sorry,” Thomas whispered once more and left. He pulled the door shut behind himself and leaned on it from the outside. He heard glass shattering in the apartment and Mario cursing, then it became silent.


	19. Conspicuous

Shit, he hadn’t wanted to hurt Mario -- not like this nor physically. But he apparently had underestimated how deep Mario’s feelings were for him. Until yesterday, he hadn’t even thought that Mario liked him in that way. He had only just gotten an idea at all in the night that there was something more there. Maybe he should have listened in on what Mario felt once. But would that have changed anything about his decision?

Even then, he wouldn’t have been able to take the risk. A broken heart was better than death, Mario would surely see that too. It would take a while, he knew that. And until then, he had basically lost his best friend. “Shit,” he cursed once more and stood up.

He listened once more towards the apartment, but it was still silent. It wasn’t easy for him to hold back and not reach for Mario’s feelings -- and influence them. But he had promised Mario. Although it might be better if Mario were to just forget the last few hours.

Shaking his head, he turned around and went down the stairs. He went to his car and sat behind the steering wheel, but didn’t drive off. There was nothing drawing him into his empty apartment. Where should he go instead? Back to Pähl?

Thomas shook his head, he couldn’t go back to Michael and Christin again already. But… maybe he should fill up his blood stash again. After his recent burning hunger, there wasn’t much leftover. He nodded. That was at least something sensible and kept his thoughts at bay for a moment. So he drove to the slaughterhouse where he always got blood, and searched out the worker who he already knew.

Very gently, he forced himself into the man’s thoughts, so that he didn’t see Thomas Müller, the footballer, in front of him, but rather a nondescript man who came and bought blood every few months. “More for your experiments, Dr. Lauer?” the employee asked and fetched the cans which he had already prepared.

Thomas nodded. “Just like always.”

The employee nodded and helped him load the cans into his trunk. “Then it’s 75 euros like usual,” he said, ringing it up on the cash register.

Thomas paid and left the slaughterhouse. He drove directly back home and stashed the cans in the fridge. They needed to last quite a while. Besides, animal blood, unlike human blood, tasted better cool. He considered whether or not he should drink one of the cans straight away, but decided against it. At the moment, he wasn’t really thirsty.

So he sat down on the sofa and waited until it finally got dark. He had to get out, move around, somewhere where he wouldn’t meet any people. His phone rang once, but he didn’t answer. He didn’t want to talk to anyone. He didn’t wake up out of his retirement until the sky finally dimmed, then he pulled his running shoes on. Without a jacket to delay him, he left the house and ran off.

First slowly through the park, then over fields and through a few forests. He kept running and tried to drive the thoughts of Mario out of his head. Sometime he turned around again, when the moon was high in the sky and it was certainly very late. He ran a bit of an arch to stay undisturbed a bit longer before he came back into the city.

When he eventually got back home, it was after 4 o’clock in the morning. In less than four hours he would have to be back to training. And he’d be seeing Mario there again. He got ready for bed, maybe he’d find some peace in the next hours. And he did actually succeed in suppressing his thoughts so far that he could sleep.

 

Like usual, he woke up promptly on time and got ready for training. Slowly, he was starting to sense thirst again, but for then he just packed a can into his bag instead of drinking it straightaway.

When he drove into the parking lot, he saw that Mario’s car was already there. He swallowed shortly, then went into the locker room to get ready. Luckily, Mario wasn’t in the room, just Michi. “What’s wrong with Mario?” the goalkeeper came to him immediately.

“What -- what do you mean?”

“You can barely talk to him,” Michi told him. “He’s completely beside himself.”

Thomas sighed quietly, but didn’t say anything.

“So, what’s wrong? You were with him yesterday.”

Thomas shook his head. “You’ll have to ask him that.”

“I did,” Michi said. “But he didn’t say anything. Absolutely nothing. He didn’t even say one word.”

Thomas nodded. “Then I won’t be able to get anything out of him either.”

Michi looked around the locker room, but other than them, there was no one else there. “What’s wrong Thomas? And don’t avoid it again.”

“No. If Mario doesn’t want to talk, I’m not going to go behind his back,” he explained firmly.

Michi snorted. “Just get everything back to normal Thomas. And fast.”

Thomas shrugged. “I don’t know if it’ll go fast.”

“Try your best,” Michi said and left the locker room without waiting for an answer.

Thomas gulped, had he also turned Michi against him now? Lost in thought, he grabbed the can that he had backed away, ripped it open, and drank it empty. He had just taken care of the can and cleaned out his mouth when the locker room’s door opened and Philipp stuck his head in. “God, Thomas, where are you hiding?”

“I’m coming,” he mumbled around the stuck-out teeth.

Philipp wrinkled his forehead. “First Mario, now you… is everything ok with you two?”

“It’ll be fine.”

“Ok, then come on,” Philipp said and held the door open for him. Thomas stood up and followed Philipp to training.

He stayed away from Mario, but watched him. And he knew immediately what Michi and Philipp had meant. Mario looked horrible, as if he hadn’t shut his eyes once the whole night. Damn, and that was his fault. And he had just wanted to protect Mario. And that was also the right thing to do, he just couldn’t take the risk. He would kill Mario sooner or later, he didn’t have himself under control well enough. He hadn’t been able to think anymore even with Lars, and with Mario things would be much worse, he knew that.

He would just leave Mario in peace, even if it hurt him too. They would get through it -- would have to. He nodded barely visibly. That’s what he would do. Mario would suffer for a few weeks, but then he’d be over him. And most importantly still alive.

So he ignored Mario’s glances, his entire person, and concentrated on the other teammates, so that he didn’t check in on Mario’s thoughts. He kept close to Holger, who at least didn’t ask him any stupid questions, and just trained concentratedly. Even though the training did him well, he felt noticeably exhausted, which was unusual.

“You know, you’re not entirely fit yet,” Philipp declared, when he went into the locker room next to him. Thomas shook his head, somehow he was unwell. “Did you already go see the doc?”

“I’ll go soon,” Thomas promised.

Philipp nodded with a smile. “And make up with Mario, ok?”

“I’ll try,” Thomas muttered not entirely convinced. It would probably take quite a while.

“Don’t try,” Philipp shook his head energetically. “Do. Sit down, talk, and make up.”

Quietly, Thomas sighed. “It’s not that easy…”

“Did you both fall for the same woman?”

Thomas laughed quietly, “If it were that easy.” He began to undress and hoped that Philipp wouldn’t ask anymore.

“What is it then?” Philipp destroyed his hope straight away. “You both have been one heart and soul since the summer. The Basti and Lukas reprise. And suddenly you’re not even looking at each other anymore and act as if the other one had some contagious disease.”

Thomas snorted quietly. Philipp wasn’t so far from the truth. “Just leave it…”

Philipp rolled his eyes. “I thought Mario would be the stubborn Spanish donkey of the two of you.”

Thomas nodded. “Doesn’t mean that I want to talk about it…”

Philipp raised a hand calmingly. “It’s fine. But if you decide you want to talk, you can call me anytime.”

“Thanks,” Thomas nodded. It was good to know that Philipp wanted to help him -- even if he wouldn’t take that help. Philipp just smiled at him and then turned to his locker. Relieved, Thomas fully undressed, washed the pretend sweat from his body, and then got dressed again.


	20. Cold

A few weeks later, not much had changed. Thomas still was avoiding Mario, and Mario seemed to have gotten used to it. But his bloodthirst seemed to be increasing. He needed way more cans than before, and he had the feeling that he couldn’t silence his thirst. But he didn’t have a choice, he had to keep drinking animal blood, in increasingly larger amounts, so that he didn’t attack any human.

Also on that day, he was incredibly happy when he could leave the locker room and stepped outside into the cool air. For a minute, he stayed still, looking at the dark grey sky. It was cold and snow had been forecast for the next days. He liked this time of year. Partly because the sun only shone for a few hours, but also because of the special atmosphere. It was a bit dusky and cool, that fit very well with his vampire nature, even if he only had very few commonalities to vampires in literature.

He grinned sheepishly. If he were a vampire like in books, he wouldn’t have any scruples against biting Mario. On the contrary, he probably would be lying in wait for him right now, in the dull half-light of twilight and the coming rain. He would calm him with a simple command, pull him close, and bore through his soft skin around his neck with his teeth. His blood would taste so warm and so unbelievably sweet, and he would enjoy sucking him dry slowly.

He swallowed as he sensed his teeth growing with desire. The pointy sharp canines that could pierce through skin so quickly and easily. Thomas let out a dull growl and cursed himself for not having stuck a second can of blood in his pack. With fast steps, he ran to his car, so that he would get away from Mario and his scent before he lost his control.

Impatiently, he tore his key from his pack. His hands were shaking and the cold keyring slipped out of his hand. “Shit,” he cursed under his breath, and bent down to pick up his keys again. They slipped out of his fingers again, until he finally got them in his grip his second try.

A slight dizziness grasped him when he stood up again and he had to support himself against his car. He closed his eyes and tried frantically to calm himself. Steps came closer to him. “Thomas?”

He hadn’t needed to say anything, Thomas would have recognized him in the same moment, through the small gust of wind that brought his smell. And before, he only hadn’t noticed him because he had tuned out all feelings. “Go away,” Thomas spit rawly.

Mario sucked in air shocked. “What… Thomas you’re not well… I can’t just leave you alone…”

“Go away,” Thomas gasped once more and tried again to unlock his car, but his shaking fingers didn’t hit the little button on his key.

Mario hesitated for a second, then shook his head. He let his bag fall onto the ground and stepped closer to Thomas. “Give me the keys. You’re not going to drive now.”

“Then I’ll jussst walk,” Thomas lisped unclearly and shouldered his bag. He couldn’t handle Mario’s closeness longer.

Quickly, Mario grabbed Thomas’s arm. “I’ll drive you Thomas.”

With all his force, Thomas tore himself free. “Leave me alone,” he lisped. “You have no idea what you’re getting yourssself into!”

Mario gulped and took a step back. Thomas looked at him once more briefly, then ran off. A couple of seconds passed, then Mario ran after him. “Let Michi drive you. Or Andi.”

“Don’t you underssstand? Go away!” For clarification, Thomas flashed his extended teeth quickly.

Mario opened his eyes wide and stumbled clumsily over a stone. “That…”

Instinctively, Thomas wanted to grab for him, but just kept running, away from Mairo. It wasn’t a solitary parking lot, soon another teammate would come by and help Mario -- if he really needed help. This way he could at least get some distance on him. And he needed to get distance, badly!

He needed to get home, where he wouldn’t be dangerous for anyone. So he ran down the streets, not as fast as usual, but not because he was controlling himself, rather because his strength seemed to be giving up.

He felt the slight dizziness again and everything swam in front of his eyes, he was getting awful headaches as if he were sitting out unprotected in the sun. He needed to hurry as fast as possible to get home in safety. He heard cars drive past him and noticed that one was driving close to him and honking. “Thomas, get in!”

Thomas bit his lip and shook his head. He clamped his eyes shut and didn’t breathe, anything else would have endangered Mario too much. “Please Thomas,” Mario said forcefully. “You can barely stay on your own legs.”

“Mario pleassse,” Thomas strove to still be able to talk around his teeth. “Leave me alone. I need to go home. Alone.”

“I’ll drive you,” Mario shook his head stubbornly and got out.

Immediately, Thomas started running faster, just away from Mario who didn’t know what sort of danger he was putting himself in. He heard Mario swear. “Damn it Thomas, why won’t you let yourself be helped?”

“Because I would kill you,” Thomas whispered barely audibly and kept running.

Mario apparently didn’t hear him. “Please, then I won’t bother. Sorry that I worried about you at all,” he called.

“I am sssorry,” Thomas called back quietly, then kept running, around the next corner, down the next street, farther and farther. He mustered his last strength just to get away from Mario. And this time Mario seemed to have caught on, because no one came up from behind him.

He kept running, as fast as he could, until he was at the end of all his strength when he got home. With shaking hands, he unlocked the front door, he almost doubted he could unlock his apartment door. Somehow he managed to open the door and got himself into the inside of his apartment. He threw the door shut and sank down to the floor simultaneously, completely out of strength. Naturally his heart wasn’t beating in his throat, and he wasn’t gasping out of breath, but he felt like he was.

He felt weak and… dried out. A minute longer he stayed sitting, then stood up and went slowly to the refrigerator. He had to lean against the wall, otherwise he would have keeled over. His hands were shaking very visibly while he opened the fridge and pulled one of the cans out. He struggled a minute, then he finally ripped it open and poured its cool contents down.

The cool blood calmed the burning in his insides for a second. It gave him a little bit of strength so that he could at least stand without holding on tightly to the counter. But he was still very shaky on his feet. He grabbed a second can, which he ripped open quickly and gulped down. He barely noticed the taste, the blood ran so fast down his throat. He was soon ripping open the next can and pouring its contents down his throat too.

A fourth can had to be thrown back before he finally had the feeling that there was an effect taking hold. He went into the living room, fell down on the sofa, and grabbed his cellphone. [Mario, sorry for before. It would have been too dangerous for you. Please don’t be mad. Thomas]

Then he closed his eyes and tried to find some peace. The intensity with which Mario had reacted shocked and surprised him. He had barely been able to hold back; he had almost bitten Mario and then probably would have drunk so long until… until the end.

But he didn’t understand why. What had happened. He had already felt bad before. But suddenly the drive for blood, human blood, for Mario’s blood had become overwhelming. Would he have reacted the same way towards a different teammate? Towards Michi, Philipp, or Andi? Or was it because of Mario? He didn’t know, and he didn’t want to try it out either.

He turned his head and looked at his phone. Should he call Jakob again? But he probably didn’t have an answer either. Jakob had told him everything he knew. Now, he would just have to wait and see for himself what would happen. And how he would have to get along with it.

He sighed quietly. He still felt exhausted, he couldn’t remember ever feeling so badly. And that despite having emptied four damn cans, he’d never drunk that much before. And he would still need more -- soon he wouldn’t get as many supplies as he needed. So it was pretty obvious that he couldn’t avoid human blood anymore. But he had to, he didn’t want to kill anyone!

With Lars, he’d managed to stop in time, but who guaranteed that it would always work that way? No one. And that’s why he couldn’t take the risk. He went back to the cans which he couldn’t get enough of. But what should he do now?

He felt himself get cold. That afternoon he had to go back to training. He would have to go to the doc and then train with the team again. He stood up and got another can out of the fridge. Should he warm it up a bit? The largest part of the thirst was sated for now, so he could wait a couple of minutes.

So he poured the contents of the can into a small pot and warmed it up on the stove. He could also warm himself up a little bit that way. He was cold, he only just really noticed that. The blood slowly warmed up and smelled even more intense. Cow blood, definitely, it smelled good, but not as good as Mario.

When the blood was warm, he placed the pot impatiently on his lips and drank. The smell was more intense and substantial, but it was still missing something. And it wasn’t salt or pepper, Thomas thought with a wry grin. It was liveliness that was missing. Liveliness that he wouldn’t get. That he couldn’t get.

He sighed and took two cans out of the fridge that he wanted to warm to room temperature. If he kept up like this, he would have to drive to the slaughterhouse the next day already, he thought shaking his head. He sat down in the living room again on the sofa and cocooned himself in a wool blanket. He was still cold, an unusual feeling.

He turned on the TV, maybe he’d be able to distract himself a bit. He flipped through the channels a bit and settled for a winter sport show eventually. Naturally he felt even colder, but it helped distract him still. And the heating blanket which Michael had sent him as a joke once also helped him against the cold.

Sometime he dozed off, at least he didn’t remember anything that happened on the TV. Instead he heard the loud and annoying ring of his telephone. “Yeah?” he answered after a minute.

“Where are you hiding Thomas?” he heard Michi’s voice. “We’ve had training for the past ten minutes, your car’s in the parking lot, but no one knows where you’re at.”

“I’m not feeling very well,” Thomas explained reasonably truthfully. “I’m at home.”

“Fantastic,” Michi grumbled. “Mario also called in sick.”

“What?” Thomas asked surprised.

“I don’t know either,” Michi said. “But the coach’ll definitely be thrilled that two of his players all of a sudden aren’t coming.”

“Sorry,” Thomas murmured honestly.

“Keep it,” Michi sighed. “Call the coach and tell him you’re sick, otherwise things’ll get uncomfortable.”

“Will do,” Thomas promised, hung up, and dialed the coach’s number.

Influencing someone over the telephone was remarkably hard, so Thomas just tried to soften his trainer a little bit. Everything else he’d redo in the morning.

“I’m not feeling so well… yeah, tomorrow it should be better… I’ll go straight to the doc…” he muttered and closed his eyes. Even the light from the TV was giving him a headache.

Eventually he hung up and turned off the television. Immediately it got dark in the apartment and he sighed relieved. He turned up the heating blanket, and after a while he got his winter blanket out of his bedroom. But still, the cold just didn’t want to be driven away from his body. He shivered and drank another can. But they seemed to not help him at all.

He looked at his phone again. If Jakob had discovered something new, he would have already called him. Besides, he knew what Jakob’s advice would be. ‘Go out and find someone. Or take Mario, if he’d already offered it to you!’ he could hear his voice clearly. Immediately, Mario’s image appeared before his eyes. His beaming eyes, his smile… he could even imagine his smell and the wonderful warmth of his body.

He shook his head, which immediately gave him a violent headache. No, he wasn’t allowed to put Mario in danger. Not Mario and not any other humans. He pulled the blankets higher and hoped he wouldn’t be disturbed again. Until… well until everything stopped. Sometime it would have to stop, his desire for Mario would have to peter out. He closed his eyes again and tried to get some sort of peace.


	21. Blood Donation

A ring on his front door destroyed his carefully built up peace just a few seconds later. But he didn’t stand up, he didn’t know if his legs would hold out. And even then, he wasn’t expecting any visitor. The bell rang again, this time longer.

Again, Thomas didn’t react, but pulled the blankets up higher. It rang for another minute, then stopped abruptly. Instead, the sound of a key came from the hallway. Damn, it was definitely Mario.

“Thomas?”

“Please go,” Thomas coughed up -- sounding horribly weak.

Slowly, steps approached him. “Thomas?”

“Mario, please,” Thomas croaked, but too late, next minute, the living room door opened and Mario came in. Horrified, he looked at Thomas.

“Damn it, what’s wrong?” he asked and came around the couch with fast steps.

He knelt in front of Thomas and stroked his shoulder. “You look like shit.” Thomas hissed at him and scooted away a bit. “Thomas what happened?” Mario wanted to know.

“Go!” Thomas spat.

“No, I’m not going,” Mario declared.

“Please… it’s better for you…”

“What’s wrong? Why are you so bad off?”

Thomas closed his eyes and tried to ignore Mario’s scent and his proximity. “Thomas,” Mario requested once more and rubbed his shoulder. “You’re ice cold!” A shiver ran through Thomas’ body. Mario’s hand seemed to glow from the heat. “And it’s pitch black in here,” Mario noticed and turned on a floor light.

“Don’t” Thomas asked and turned away from the light.

“Oh,” Mario said terrified and looked at Thomas, then turned the light off again. “You look so shitty Thomas. Like… I can barely describe it. As if you were 100 years old and on your deathbed for months.”

Thomas laughed dryly. “I feel that way too. And now please go Mario.”

Mario shook his head immediately. “I’m not going to leave you alone when you’re doing so badly. What are you missing…?” he began, then he seemed to understand.

“Please Mario,” Thomas whispered almost beseechingly.

Mario shook his head. He didn’t hesitate, standing straight up and going into the kitchen. Thomas sighed and let his head sink against the arm of the sofa. A minute later, Mario came back. “Blood in cans,” he grinned wryly and held one in his hand. “Here,” he offered it.

Thomas’ hand was shaking as he almost ripped the can out of Mario’s hand. But he knew already that that blood wouldn’t help. He tore it open quickly and threw the blood back.

Mario looked at him without turning his gaze even once. “Another one?” he asked. Thomas shook his head slightly. Mario nodded and took the empty can away. “Is it better?”

Thomas hesitated, then he pulled the blanket higher. “Can… can I help you somehow?” Mario asked concerned.

Thomas shook his head. “But there has to be something I can do,” Mario stayed persistent.

Thomas shook his head again. He wouldn’t say anything to Mario, because he would let him bite him immediately. Mario came closer again and set down on the edge of the sofa. “Please Thomas… let me help you.”

Thomas scooted to the other end of the sofa and pushed himself against the armrest. Mario was way too close. “Thomas,” Mario pled quietly and edged closer to him. Carefully, he laid a hand on his ice cold shoulder again. Thomas’s body shook and tensed up.

“Thomas -- how can I help you? What…?” Mario paused, as if it had become clear to him what Thomas needed.

“Go,” Thomas squeezed out. To his surprise, Mario actually stood up, but was still looking at him.

Thomas pulled his blankets higher, clearly trying to hide himself in it. He hoped that Mario would just go away again. He was getting colder, and he even the shivering was subsiding. He could barely move from cold -- and his burning thirst was getting worse.

Mario shook his head. “I can’t leave you like this alone, Thomas,” he whispered.

“Just go already,” Thomas whispered weakly, he didn’t dare take a breath, because he would finally breathe in Mario’s smell again.

“No,” Mario said firmly.

“Mario, pleasse undersstand…” His teeth were growing again, apparently they were the only part of his body that still worked.

“I understand very well,” Mario said and kneeled directly in front of Thomas’ seat on the floor. “But you apparently understand absolutely nothing.”

“Go away,” Thomas forced out and pulled the blanket over his head. Hear nothing, see nothing, smell nothing. Feel nothing…

“Absolutely not,” Mario said and stood up. He went into the kitchen and dug around in Thomas’ drawers for a minute until he found what he was looking for, then he went out again and kneeled on the ground like before. “Thomas look at me.”

He had to actually pull the blanket off of Thomas’ head for him to look at him.

“You need blood, don’t you?” he asked. “And not from a can.”

Thomas just looked at him, and then nodded carefully. “Pleasse jusst leave it,” he mumbled barely understandably.

Mario shook his head. “I already offered it to you once,” he said quietly and showed Thomas what he had in his hand. It was a small paring knife.

“If you don’t want to bite me…” Mario murmured.

“Mario, pleasse… leave it,” Thomas repeated with the last of his self-control.

“Why? Things are bad for you and I can help.”

Thomas felt a quiet rumble in his throat. “Go…”

Mario shook his head. “You’re too important to me Thomas,” he said and grabbed the knife tighter. He looked at Thomas attentively and then stuck the knife into the tip of his middle finger. Instantly, a small red drop of blood appeared.

Thomas fought with himself. He squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath, but just the knowledge of blood, Mario’s precious blood, was too much for him. He pushed himself with quasi his last strength at Mario and began to suck on the finger.

Mario stayed very still. Somehow he had expected that it would hurt, but it didn’t. It was strange and tingled slightly, but it was absolutely not painful. Thomas growled quietly while he was sucking on the finger. It didn’t take long, then it seemed to not be enough for him. He released himself from the finger and took Mario by surprise, throwing himself on him and grabbing both hands tightly. Then he bit his neck.

Mario gasped. For a minute it hurt. The bite was burning and Thomas’ hands were boring into his skin. But just as fast as the pain came, it went again.

Thomas’ throat rumbled again while he drank the precious blood. So sweet, so warm, so good… And Mario gasped again. His entire body was tingling and seemed to be made out of flames. He had never felt like that… Instinctively, he put a hand around Thomas’ neck. Thomas’ skin was much warmer than a few minutes ago, Mario decided and pushed himself closer to him. Thomas kept on drinking thirstily, he had never tasted something so good. He growled again and shoved himself tightly over Mario.

Instinctively, Mario slung his arms around Thomas’ body. He barely noticed they were now laying on the floor in front of the sofa. Thomas kept drinking, more and more, and Mario felt him push himself even tighter up against him. Then, suddenly and without warning, everything in him contracted, and he came, living through an orgasm that was heftier than anything before.

He dug his fingers into Thomas’ body and screamed. He felt Thomas’ hard dick against his thigh through his pants. Carefully, he pushed against it, moving his leg. Instinctively, Thomas met against every movement until he also came with a loud gasp. Then he kept drinking, more, more, always more.

Sometime, Mario sensed his body getting heavier and a heavy exhaustion starting to take hold. “Thomas…” he mumbled, barely understandable.

It took another second, then Thomas released himself from him. Horrified, he rolled off of him, he didn’t even realize that his head hit the living room table hard. Just then, he realized what he had done -- he had drunk from Mario. And -- too much, it looked like.

Mario had closed his eyes and was breathing shallowly. His face was pale from the loss of blood. “Shit, Mario,” Thomas whispered horrified and pulled him into his arms. “Mario, please, say something,” he begged desperately.

Mario immediately snuggled up to him. “You’re so warm,” he whispered.

“Mario, please… don’t joke around,” Thomas whispered desperately. Mario hummed and pushed himself closer. He was a bit sleepy and Thomas was really wonderfully warm. Very carefully, Thomas held him tightly, as if Mario was very fragile. Compared to a vampire he was too -- why, damn it, had he let it happen?

“That… was nice,” Mario whispered against Thomas’ neck.

“I almost killed you!” Thomas retorted.

“Nonsense… I’m just a bit tired…”

Thomas shook his head. “I drank too much Mario. That… I’m so sorry.”

Mario didn’t say anything, but kissed Thomas’ warm neck skin softly. “You just tasted so good, so damn good,” Thomas whispered and let himself enjoy Mario's touches for a second. Mario kissed Thomas’ skin again.


	22. Gather Strength

Thomas closed his eyes for a second, then he released himself from Mario. “You need to go to bed. And drink something. God, I hope I didn’t take too much blood from you… but it was so good…”

“Not going,” Mario grumbled and tried to hold Thomas tightly. Thomas sighed quietly and lifted Mario easily into his arms. Now, with fresh blood, he felt fit and healthy again -- at Mario’s cost.

Mario nodded satisfied. “You’ll… stay with me, right?”

“If yo ustill want me?”

Mario grinned sheepishly. “Biting and then running away doesn’t work. Haven’t you noticed just how stubborn I am?”

Thomas looked at him for a moment and managed to force out a crooked grin, then he carried Mario carefully into the kitchen, got a bottle of water, and went with him into the bedroom. Softly, he laid Mario on the bed and sat down on the edge. “You have to drink something,” Thomas said.

“Only if you lay down with me,” Mario grinned at him a bit more vivaciously. Thomas nodded a bit hesitantly, then pushed himself onto the bed. Immediately, Mario clamped himself tightly onto Thomas and closed his eyes.

Thomas swallowed. Mario was still paler than usual, but a small smile was on his lips. He ran his hand through Mario’s hair. “Come on, drink,” he begged him and pulled him a bit higher so he could set the water bottle on his lips.

Mario opened his lips and drank the cool water thirstily. It was good for him, he sensed that immediately. Eventually, he withdrew the bottle and handed it back to Thomas who put it on the floor. “Sleep? And I’ll make you something to eat? Or do you need something else?”

“Food sounds good,” Mario murmured sleepily.

“Sleep a little bit,” Thomas requested and stroked his shoulder once. “What are you hungry for?”

“Noodles,” Mario answered without thinking about it much.

Thomas nodded and kissed his temple. “And now sleep.” He stood up and had vanished faster from his side than Mario could watch. Mario gazed after him for a minute, then he groaned and closed his eyes again. A few seconds later he was fast asleep. He didn’t notice Thomas free him from his jeans and his thick sweater, cleaned the remnants of the evening off of him, and eventually packed him up into the winter blanket. Mario also didn’t notice him slinking out of the room and out of the apartment.

Thomas stayed standing before the door breathing the fresh cool air. He had done it. He had bitten Mario. Involuntarily, he ran his tongue over his lips where Mario’s taste was still clinging. He had tasted so unbelievably good, so… For him it was practically a miracle that he’d been able to stop at all.

But he had stopped and Mario was doing more-or-less well. Still, he would never do it again. Never again. The danger was just too high. If he had drunk just a little bit more, Mario probably wouldn’t have survived. Just the thought of that was unbearable. Losing mario, through his own damn greediness, he wouldn’t be able to bear. No, he wouldn’t bite Mario again. This one time had already been too much.

But who could have counted on an action like that from Mario? He never had thought that Mario would go so far as to hurt himself to help him, Thomas. A small smile spread across Thomas’ love. It felt so good to be… loved. But he couldn’t accept that gift. He could only hope that Mario would understand.

He stayed sitting for a while, then he stood up and left the house -- after all, he had promised to cook something for Mario. He needed to get back up to strength -- drink a lot and iron. Iron… liver. Hopefully Mario liked liver. And fettuccine with it, he thought.

He ran to the butcher at the end of the street, then to the supermarket, and shortly later he came back home. He had gotten a bit of orange juice and he’d whip up chocolate pudding for dessert.

A half hour later, he went into the bedroom where Mario was sleeping snuggled deep in the blankets. He looked noticeably better than before. A small smile was on his lips and he’d latched on to Thomas’ pillow tightly. Thomas didn’t actually want to wake him, but Mario had to drink something, and it’d be best for him to eat something too. So he brushed him lightly on the shoulder.

Very gently, Mario moved a bit and then opened his eyes. “Hey,” he mumbled when he saw Thomas.

“Hey… you feeling better?” Thomas asked with concern.

Mario nodded and reached for Thomas’ hand. “Did I sleep long?”

“An hour or so,” Thomas looked at the clock, then closed his hand around Mario’s.

Mario yawned and stretched a bit. “It helped.”

“You can go back to bed soon -- you should just drink something… and I cooked some stuff.”

“Really?” Mario smiled and sat up slowly. “What is there?”

“I hope you like liver? With fettuccine?”

Mario nodded. “Every now and then I eat liver.”

“And you can use it right about now,” Thomas explained seriously and set the tray on Mario’s knee.

For a minute Mario just stared at Thomas. “You look much better,” he declared.

“You still shouldn’t have done it. I almost killed you.”

“But you didn’t,” Mario said with a shrug. “You stopped and I knew you would. I trust you.”

Thomas sighed quietly. “But I don’t. This time you were lucky -- and that’s why there won’t be a second time.”

“And you decide that so easily without asking me about my opinion?”

“It’s my decision -- not yours,” Thomas said very harshly and sat down on the edge of the bed. “I… imagine if I were to kill you. Kill. Murder my best friend. Mario that… I wouldn’t be able to survive that. And you neither,” he grinned wryly.

“You wouldn’t kill me,” Mario shook his head.

“It could happen,” Thomas said firmly and shoved a glass of orange juice towards Mario.

“And how do you imagine this going?” Mario asked, ignoring the juice and the food. “An hour ago, you were doing absolutely horribly.”

“Well I’m definitely not going to take you as my blood supplier,” Thomas retorted firmly.

“Great,” Mario said and his eyes flashed angrily. “So you want to bite some random stranger?”

“I won’t bite anyone. I’ll keep drinking the cans -- it’s worked for years.”

“But they haven’t been working enough,” Mario said firmly.

“Then I won’t drink anything at all.”

“I don’t understand everything yet, but I think that’d be like if I were to stop eating, right?”

Thomas shrugged. “With the restriction that you could only eat the body parts of your friends.”

“Damn it Thomas, this isn’t funny!” Mario said angrily. “You’ll die if you stop drinking. Animal blood’s not working anymore, and I won’t let you wander from one stranger to another.”

Surprised at the outburst, Thomas looked at him. “But you don’t get to decide that,” he said exactly as he had begun.

Mario pressed his lips together. “Great. And I thought…” He shook his head. “God, I’m an idiot.”

“What did you think?” Thomas asked.

“Nothing,” Mario said and averted his gaze.

Thomas examined him, then he set his hand under Mario’s chin and got him to turn his head. “You’re not an idiot,” he said quietly. “And that’s exactly why…”

“Exactly why what? Am I supposed to watch you… starve?” Mario asked.

“Exactly why I can’t bite you.”

“But I thought it was… nice,” Mario whispered and could barely look Thomas in the eyes. “I’ve… never felt something like that before.”

Thomas snorted quietly. “Yeah, most people enjoy near death experiences. Now eat -- and drink,” he shoved the glass closer.

“No,” Mario said and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Thomas sighed and looked at him pleadingly. Mario shook his head, even though his stomach growled in protest.

“I could just force you to,” Thomas reminded him.

“What, so playing with my memory is fine, but biting’s not?” Mario asked cynically.

“I promised you that I wouldn’t do it, and I’m keeping my promise.”

Mario nodded and then leaned back into the pillows.

“What are you playing at, Mario? Do you want to punish me for not biting you?”

“I need nutrition, you need blood,” Mario said. “I’m trying to make that clear to you.”

“I’m a dangerous beast, and if I drink then I can kill you too easily. I’m trying to make that clear to you.”

“You’re not a dangerous beast. You’re Thomas,” Mario said quietly and grabbed Thomas’ hand.

With those quiet words, Thomas shut his eyes for a moment and allowed the contact. “But maybe not always. I could accidentally kill you any second. Especially if I bite you.”

Mario sighed deeply and let Thomas’ hand go. Then he turned onto his side and buried his head into the pillow. Thomas reached his hand out and brushed his shoulder, then stood up. “Please eat something.” Mario didn’t answer.

A second long, Thomas looked at him, then he left the bedroom. Why didn’t Mario want to understand him? It had been so hard to hold back after Mario had warned him. He almost hadn’t managed -- and killed Mario!

Mario seemed to take it for some sort of game, but he was serious. Dead serious, if he wasn’t careful. It had been so hard to hold back when he had drunk from Mario. Different than with Lars. Mario’s blood was breathtaking. Uncomparable. It was so tingling, vivacious, so warm and sweet and… he had felt like he was on cloud nine when he could drink it. And of course he had sensed that Mario liked it too. That it had aroused him, when he drunk from him.

He hadn’t even touched him once before he had come -- with a scream, so hot… Thomas gulped and tried to banish the images from his head. Mario, quietly groaning, gasping, beneath him… The taste of his blood when he came…

With a quiet growl, he opened his eyes and tried to distract himself. But that was easier said than done. The whole apartment smelled like Mario and he could sense his presence through the closed bedroom door. “Why are you doing this to me?” he asked no one in particular.

Carefully, he keyed into Mario’s feelings. He felt the hunger that was raging in Mario. The stubborn-head hadn’t eaten anything yet. Resigned, he sat down on the sofa. Would they both now start a hunger strike? Should he maybe force Mario to eat? For his own good?

He shook his head, Mario wouldn’t forgive for that. And he wouldn’t forgive himself either. No, he would wait it out. Or go? Leave Mario alone? At least until he ate something?

He nodded. He would go out for a run, that would definitely help him. Maybe in the forest where he wouldn’t have to watch his pace. It had been too long since he was in shape to really run quickly. But now with Mario’s blood in his veins, he was feeling fantastic. Maybe that was because of the amount he’d drunk, or maybe just because it was Mario’s blood.


	23. An Attempt

He stood up and went to the bedroom door slowly. He should at least tell Mario that he was going running. Quietly, he opened the door. Mario was lying in bed exactly how he had left him. “Mario?” he asked quietly.

“Yes?”

“I… I wanted to go running a bit.”

Mario raised his head. “And I should leave, hm?”

“Nonsense. You’re staying here and actually eating something. And drinking. You need to recover your strength.”

“I’m not hungry,” Mario muttered and laid back down.

Thomas sighed quietly. “Please Mario. You lost so much blood, too much…”

“Yeah, damn it, I did lose blood,” Mario spat angrily and glared at Thomas. “And I did it willingly. Because I had the stupid idea that I meant exactly as much to you as you do to me. But instead, you’re walking all over my feelings and making decisions for me. I’m old enough to decide what’s good for me!”

“You mean a whole hell of a lot to me,” Thomas contradicted him. “That’s why I have to make this decision for you. I… I couldn’t bear to hurt you… to… lose you.”

“If you don’t want to lose me, then you wouldn’t keep pushing me away from you.”

“I couldn’t bear… to kill you,” Thomas muttered barely audibly.

Mario shook his head. “Why do you have such little trust in yourself? Before one word was enough and you stopped.”

“One word? One word and my entire self-control, and together they were barely enough,” Thomas murmured. “You don’t know how good how… how sexy, how indescribable you taste. You can’t just stop.”

Mario looked at him, then pressed his lips together. “Then… it’s probably better if we keep our distance from each other,” he muttered and clawed his way out of the blanket.

Thomas nodded even though it was hurt. “Please eat.” Without reacting, Mario stood up and gathered his clothing.

“Mario,” Thomas whispered.

“What else do you want?” Mario asked and sounded unendingly sad and exhausted. “I understood Thomas.”

Thomas walked to him and pulled him in to comfort him against all resistance. Mario stiffened up immediately. He balled both of his hands into fists, digging his nails deep and painfully into the palms of his hands. He wouldn’t start crying now. Not in front of Thomas! “I like you too much to hurt you,” Thomas whispered and rubbed his back.

“But you are hurting me,” Mario whispered back.

“I won’t kill you this way…”

“Please let me go,” Mario whispered with a covered voice. Thomas pulled him a bit tighter once more, then he followed Mario’s wish. Mario didn’t look at him while he got dressed. Then he pulled his keyring out of his pocket. He needed a minute, then he had freed Thomas’ key. Wordlessly, he laid it on the end table.

“Shit, Mario -- you can’t do that!”

“What?” Mario asked hoarsely. “Are you really expecting me to just keep being your best friend? To go about like my feelings don’t exist?”

“Do you think I don’t have any feelings for you? Do you think it’s easy for me?”

“Thomas what am I supposed to do? We can’t be together because you’re ridiculously afraid that you’ll kill me. And no matter what I say, you won’t believe me. So there’s only one other possibility for it to stop hurting sometime, and that’s what I’m doing here. Understand I’m making this decision for you, whether or not you like it,” Mario said quietly.

“It’s not a ridiculous fear,” Thomas said firmly. “I’m a… a vampire, and I can’t change that. Why can’t you understand that?”

“Because I like you Thomas,” Mario whispered. “Because I… have a shitty relationship from Stuttgart behind me and didn’t want to have anything else to do with men. And then you came and…” He shook his head. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“I like you a hell of a lot Mario. And… I would want to try it so badly. But… it’s too dangerous for me.”

“You told me yourself that vampires sometimes take human partners,” Mario said.

“I don’t trust myself. And… I don’t really want to try it with you of all people,” Thomas explained.

“Then with whom?”

“With no one who means as much to me as you do…”

“Then with whom?” Mario repeated his question.

Thomas shrugged his shoulders honestly, he’d never thought about it before.

“You have all the time in the world, Thomas, but I don’t,” Mario said quietly. “I can’t just wait until you… try it out.”

“That… that’s also a reason,” Thomas murmured.

Mario shook his head. “You’re looking for one reason after another to not be with me, can’t you see that?”

Thomas shrugged. “Maybe I’m just too scared…”

“I’m scared too, Thomas,” Mario whispered.

Thomas looked at him alert. “Of what?”

“Not of you, if you’re thinking that,” Mario snorted straight away. “I’m afraid of losing my best friend. I’m afraid of being hurt again. I’m afraid for you.”

“You won’t lose your best friend,” Thomas promised. “And… for me?”

“Yes for you,” Mario said. “Because you’d rather starve yourself than drink my blood. Even though I’m giving to you willingly. Happily. How long can you go without blood? A couple of weeks?”

Thomas nodded, since the episode with Lars five weeks had passed.

“And if I hadn’t come when I did?” Mario asked. “How long would you have managed?”

Thomas shrugged. “I won’t die, if that’s what you think. But… what would happen instead, I don’t know either.”

“Very reassuring…”

Thomas sighed quietly. “What do you think about this -- you go back to bed, I’ll warm up the food again, and then we’ll see?”

Mario hesitated, then shook his head. “You’re giving me hope, Thomas, that’s not fair. You’re only doing this so that I eat something and calm down…”

“I don’t want to lose you Mario,” Thomas explained. “You’re my best friend and one of three people who know about me. Doesn’t that prove to you how important you are to me?”

“I know I’m important to you,” Mario said. “But I… I can’t just be only your best friend. I want more.”

Thomas sighed. “Me too,” he whispered barely audibly.

“And yet you won’t let it happen.”

“Go to bed, then we’ll talk some more,” Thomas tried again.

“We can also talk standing,” Mario shook his head.

“You can barely stay on your feet,” Thomas said firmly.

Mario shrugged, even though he knew Thomas was right. “I don’t care.”

“Yes you do,” Thomas determined, and lifted him up easily.

“That’s not fair,” Mario whispered.

“I know,” Thomas admitted and carried him to bed. Mario sighed and wrapped his arms around Thomas’ neck. He shut his eyes for a second and allowed himself to take a small breath.

Mario pushed himself closer to him, until his lips touched Thomas’ neck. “Nice,” Thomas whispered and pulled Mario closer to him.

Involuntarily, Mario smiled and began kissing Thomas’ neck. Thomas smiled too and held Mario very tightly. He never wanted to let him go again. Mario closed his eyes without interrupting the kisses.

But eventually, he was interrupted from the motion that set him down carefully on the bed. “Don’t” he whispered and held Thomas tightly.

“Eat. Then you can keep going.”

A bit suspicious, Mario considered him. “No games?”

“I’m not playing with you,” Thomas explained seriously. A bit relieved, Mario nodded and reached for the glass of juice. He drank some of the rich juice.

Thomas nodded satisfied. “I’ll warm up the food quickly.” Mario hesitated, then he nodded and watched Thomas leave the room. Thomas put the plate with the noodles and liver into the microwave and leaned against the counter with a sigh.

That had entirely not gone how he had hoped. Mario was abjectly stubborn and just didn’t want to see how dangerous he was. And he’d already proven that to him spectacularly today. And still, Mario maintained that he wasn’t in danger. No, quite the opposite. Mario was worried about him!

That was nice of Mario -- but completely unnecessary. A vampire doesn’t just die. He didn’t actually know how vampires died, but he knew that starvation definitely didn’t count. With a bit of patience, his body certainly would have gotten used to animal blood again.

But now, Mario had brought everything back to square one -- but Thomas didn’t want to accuse him of that. Mario had been scared for him. He was afraid to lose him, and Thomas could empathize with that fear all too well. After all, he’d had to bear a similar fear over Mario only minutes later.

He sighed again. How were things supposed to go now? With him and Mario, with him… The microwave’s beeping interrupted his thoughts. He took out the plate and brought it back to the bedroom. Mario was sitting upright in bed clutching the empty glass of juice.

“Mario?” Thomas asked quietly.

Mario turned his head and looked at him. “Hm?”

“Is everything ok?”

“You tell me,” Mario mumbled.

Thomas set the tray down and sat next to him. Softly, he grabbed his hand and stroked it. Then he carefully keyed into Mario’s feelings. He sensed confusion and fear, hunger -- a lot of hunder. He sensed the tingling that his touch released in Mario, the joy about it and the hope that he connected to it. He stroked his hand once more, then pulled back again. “We can to pull it off somehow,” he said quietly.

Immediately, a smile spread across Mario’s face. “Really?”

“Try. I can’t promise you anything.”

“That’s more than a couple of minutes ago,” Mario said.

“It’s really serious to you,” Thomas explained.

“Did you doubt that?” Mario asked.

Thomas shook his head. “But to feel it… how serious…”

“I wouldn’t have offered you my blood if I wasn’t serious.” Thomas just nodded and squeezed Mario’s hand again tightly. Mario returned the pressure, then he peered at the full plate. “I’m… hungry.”

“I know,” Thomas grinned and pushed the plate towards him. This time, Mario dug in without hesitating. Thomas watched him with a smile. He didn’t cook very often, but he’d gotten enough experience to be able to create some dishes. Besides, Mario probably would have gulped down anything that was remotely edible. When the plate was empty, he looked up again.

“More?” Thomas asked with a smile.

Mario nodded. “Is there some?”

Thomas nodded and took the plate away. “I’ll be back soon.” Quickly, he refilled the noodles and meat sauce up again, put the food in the microwave and waited impatiently until it was warm again.

He had given into Mario. Even though he had been so firmly decided to not do it. But feeling Mario’s feelings had convinced him. He shouldn’t have done that, but it was too late now. Now he knew what Mario felt for him. How deep his feelings really went and he couldn’t push him away again. So he had to see how he would get along with it, how he could solve his problem.

He didn’t know what was supposed to happen, but somehow there would have to be a way. He tried the unfounded hope that maybe the cans would work again. It couldn’t work. Mario would always be by him, touching him. He would always have his enticing smell in his nose and the memory of the taste of his blood on his tongue. And trying again wasn’t even a question.

He just hoped that Mario would accept it. Again, the microwave’s bell tore him out of his thoughts, and he brought the second portion into the bedroom. Mario met him with a smile. “Join me under the covers?” he asked, accepting the plate.

Thomas hesitated, then he pulled off his jeans and slid next to him in bed. Immediately, Mario leaned in on him and began shovelling his second portion of noodles down. Thomas watched him and smiled.

Eventually, Mario had cleaned every last drop off that plate too, and put it on the end table. Then he cuddled up close to Thomas’ body and closed his eyes.

“You want to sleep a bit more?” Thomas asked him.

Mario nodded. “But you’ll… stay here?”

Thomas nodded. “I’ll stay, I promise.”

“Good,” Mario mumbled and closed his eyes. He fell asleep almost immediately. Thomas just held him in his arms and let his thoughts keep wandering.


	24. "My Vampire Can Turn Red"

Thomas felt Mario’s warm body against his, heard the quiet and regular breathing. It felt good.

Too good. He doubted that he’d be able to hold himself back in the future. He ran his hand through Mario’s hair, and Mario snuggled closer to him. If it were up to his feelings, he would never let Mario go again -- but his reason kept on pointing out the danger he was putting Mario in.

Mario had proven he had an unbelievable trust in him, by not only offering him his blood, but also letting his feelings be read. And what feelings they were! Thomas had never felt so much love and trust -- and simultaneously so much fear of a rejection. But he wasn’t afraid of the vampire who could kill him, but that he wouldn’t have that vampire as a boyfriend.

He didn’t understand Mario. Every normal person was afraid of him. Of the monster that was immortal and needed blood to stay alive. Mario wasn’t. It didn’t seem to interest Mario in the slightest. He just accepted it as if it were completely normal.

He had believed it unbelievably quickly and then just accepted it without running away from him screaming. On the contrary, he… he let him bite him. Consciously aware that Thomas could go too far. Mario had even hurt himself with a knife because Thomas didn’t want to bite him himself!

Very carefully, so as not to wake him, Thomas brushed Mario’s shoulder. “You’re incredible,” he whispered. “I just don’t know if you’re just incredible -- or incredibly stupid…” Probably the latter, Thomas thought with a sheepish grin. But that was true of himself too. Getting involved with Mario, constantly putting him in danger, that was more than just stupid.

He was responsible, solely responsible, if something happened to Mario. And sooner or later, something would happen. Thomas sighed and leaned his forehead against Mario’s head. “Why are you making things so hard for me?” he whispered.

Mario moved a little bit in his sleep, then he seemed to slowly wake up. He blinked a couple times and yawned enthusiastically.

“Hey,” Thomas whispered and stroked his hair.

“Hey,” Mario whispered back and smiled at Thomas.

“How are you feeling?” Thomas asked concerned.

“Good,” Mario answered without hesitating.

“Really?” Thomas asked not entirely convinced and reached for the water bottle. “Come on, drink.”

Mario grinned, but drank obediently. “Why shouldn’t I feel good? You’re here.”

The words left a slight tingle in Thomas’ stomach. It just felt so nice how Mario said that. Still, he was worried about him.

“Stop it,” Mario said and raised a hand to stroke Thomas’ cheek. “Stop thinking about everything.”

“I can’t” Thomas murmured. “I can’t just stop. I’m… too dangerous for that.”

Mario sighed. “You’re making your own life pretty hard.”

“What else should I do?”

“Trust yourself and enjoy this here,” Mario suggested.

Thomas smiled slightly. “And what if I get thirsty again?”

“But that’ll take a while, won’t it?”

Thomas shrugged. “Last time it was four or five weeks.”

“Well, see?” Mario said. “Where’s the problem. I’ve recovered well so far, and I’m assuming you won’t need so much next time if you’re drinking regularly.”

Thomas shook his head immediately. “I don’t want to drink from you all the time. I can’t control myself well enough, you’re too… too tasty. Besides, I want you as a boyfriend, not as… an animal to milk.”

Mario looked at him seriously. “And I don’t want you to bite someone else,” he said firmly. “When you bit me, that was so… intimate.”

Thomas nodded, “I’ve also never experienced something like that.”

“Then it wasn’t the same with the other guy?” Mario asked.

Thomas shook his head. “It was pretty…. Hot. But nothing to compare with what was between us.”

Mario nodded slightly. “And that’s why I don’t want you to bite someone else. That… you understand that right?”

Thomas nodded. “But I don’t want to bite you either. This time I could just barely stop, but… what about next time?”

“You’ll stop again,” Mario was certain.

Thomas shook his head. “You have no idea how hard it is to stop. With everyone -- and especially with you.”

“We’re going around in circles Thomas,” Mario sighed.

“I know,” Thomas nodded. “But… I’m not biting you, it’s not in the cards!”

“And if I want it?” Mario asked.

“Then it’s still not in the cards. Mario… you wouldn’t let me shove you off a building for you.”

Mario snorted. “That’s a dumb comparison, Thomas. You need my blood to survive, and I’m gladly giving it to you.”

“And you’re putting yourself in unnecessary danger.”

“Ok, then tell me what you’re picturing,” Mario said. “You don’t want to bite me and you’re not going to bite another man either.”

Thomas laughed quietly, Mario’s jealousness and his determination were pretty nice. “We have enough time to think about it still,” he said.

“Yeah great,” Mario gave in. “So I have about five weeks to convince you to bite me again.”

“And I have five weeks to convince you to not let yourself be bit,” Thomas nodded.

“This’ll be funny,” Mario laughed and visibly relaxed. Thomas grinned too and pulled him closer to himself. Mario turned a little bit on his side so that he could see Thomas better. Softly, he pushed his hand into the bend of Thomas’ neck and stroked it.

Thomas closed his eyes with enjoyment. He hadn’t planned on this, not at all, but… it felt so good… Smiling, Mario watched Thomas. He clearly enjoyed it. Carefully, he pushed himself another inch closer and touched Thomas’ lips with his for a split second.

A slight smile spread itself on Thomas’ lips, as he bent forward a little bit and kissed Mario shortly, too. Encouraged, Mario kept the kiss going and ran his tongue lightly across Thomas’ lower lip. Soon, Thomas opened his lips slightly and met him with his tongue. Mario felt a heavy prickling in his stomach. He had been dreaming for weeks of kissing Thomas. And now, finally. It was happening.

It was weird, they had already had fantastic, world-changing sex -- but hadn’t ever kissed. And he was usually the kind of guy who took his time with such things. He had been with his last boyfriend more than two months before anything more happened than just a couple of kisses and careful touches. With Thomas, everything was different, completely different. He didn’t know why -- was it because Thomas was so much older? Had more experience? Did he even?

Carefully, he released himself from Thomas’ lips. “Have you ever had a boyfriend?” he asked him curious.

Thomas shook his head. “Never. You’re the experienced one here,” he grinned sheepishly. “And before you ask, I did have a girlfriend for a little while, before I was bitten. After… I had other problems.”

Mario nodded. He could imagine that. “Wasn’t it hard to be alone all the time/”

Again a head shake. “I wasn’t alone. After Jakob stayed with me a while, I went back to school and finished my education to take over the farm. But -- the animals didn’t like me anymore, so that didn’t work.”

“And then what did you do?” Mario asked.

Thomas shrugged. “Not much. I… I was afraid to be around people, and the only thing I could do was agriculture. So I tried fruit-growing. At least apple trees aren’t afraid of me.”

Sympathetically, Mario stroke Thomas’ cheek. “It must be horrible for everyone to be afraid of you.”

“With our pets it was hard. We had a cat, Suleika. She almost never left my bed before -- and later she would scamper off whenever I got closer to her than 10 meters. Our dog was like that too. But it’s ok when animals don’t like you straight from the beginning. And there are exceptions.”

“You mean your nephew’s horses, right?” Mario guessed. Thomas had told him once that he liked riding and always drove to his relatives for that.

Thomas nodded. “Senegal. He’s the only one in the stable who can bear being around me. Whenever I come, he still needs a while, but he lets me ride him, and that…” He smiled happily. “We have to go there soon. Can you ride?”

“If a vacation on a pony farm when I was 7 counts, then yes,” Mario grinned broadly.

Thomas laughed quietly. “Michael definitely has the right horse for you.”

“Should I be scared?” Mario asked.

“No, Macarena is very sweet and calm.”

“Ok,” Mario said and snuggled him some more.

Thomas kissed his temples and pushed the water bottle into his hand again. “You need to regain your strength.” Mario rolled his eyes, but drank some more thirstily.

“You lost… a half or three-quarters of a liter of blood, and if you want to train tomorrow again, you have to look after yourself. Do you want more juice?” he picked up a bottle with dark-red liquid.

“Honestly, I’d rather have another kiss,” Mario said with a wink.

“After you’ve drunk,” Thomas specified.

Mario grabbed the bottle immediately, filled his glass and emptied it in a couple deep drinks.

“Good, and now your reward kiss,” Thomas grinned and kissed him softly.

“That was the reward kiss?” Mario asked.

“Do you want more?”

Mario nodded immediately. “You don’t have to ask that.”

Thomas laughed quietly and pulled Mario tighter against him to kiss him again, this time longer and a bit more passionately. Mario nestled into his arms and returned the kiss. He sighed quietly when Thomas pulled him closer. He rest his hand on Thomas’ neck and deepened the kiss.

With closed eyes, he pressed himself tighter against his friend. He tasted warmth and a bit of sweetness, and he could even feel Thomas’ pointy sharp canines. Very carefully, he slid his tongue over the teeth, fascinated by how pointy and sharp they were. But Thomas didn’t let him for very long, then he released himself from Mario and looked at him seriously. “Be careful. They’re damn sharp, and if you cut yourself…”

“You worry too much,” Mario whispered rawly and pressed his lips on Thomas’ again.

“You can’t afford to lose more blood,” Thomas whispered against his lips. Mario ignored Thomas’ words and deepened the kiss again. Thomas held him tightly, but kept paying attention that he didn’t get too close to his teeth.

With closed eyes, Mario enjoyed the kiss. And Thomas also couldn’t get enough of Mario. And he hadn’t wanted any of this. Much too dangerous! But Mario with his pighead, his stubborness…

“You’re a much better kisser than I imagined,” Mario whispered when he released himself shortly from the kiss. Thomas felt warmth in his face, was he really able to red?

Mario laughed quietly. “How cute -- my vampire can turn red.” Embarrassed, Thomas grinned. Mario had said ‘my vampire.’ Mario raised a hand and stroked Thomas’ cheek. “It looks good,” he said with a wink. Thomas thought he got even redded and looked to the side.

“What’s up?” Mario asked.

“Hmm -- I’m just not used to it,” Thomas murmured, barely understandable.

“Well you’d better get used to it,” Mario said with a smile. Thomas muttered something incoherent and then cuddled deeper into bed. It had been so long since he hadn’t been alone in bed, almost his entire life, his entire existence. And yet it still felt normal and good, a bit arousing, but still right.

Mario also cuddled tightly against Thomas and closed his eyes. He liked the feeling of having Thomas so close, even if it was strange to not feel any pulse. Thomas also wasn’t breathing again, if he just wasn’t thinking about it or didn’t want his smell, Mario didn’t know. But Thomas’ skin was as warm as his. It wasn’t always, that was clear, but for now it was warm and it felt so good to lay in his arms.

He yawned slightly and pressed a sleepy kiss against Thomas’ neck. He felt Thomas laugh softly, then his eyes fell shut. Thomas pulled the blanket softly over Mario’s and his bodies and watched Mario sleep. He could do that for hours, but he decided sometime to also rest.


	25. Slept Off

Thomas woke up again when he felt Mario moving in his arms. He needed a minute to realize everything that had happened, and then a somewhat unsure but happy smile spread across his lips. He had bitten Mario and now… now they were together.

The first had been a huge mistake, even though Mario had offered, no, basically threw himself at him. The second was the biggest luck he could have hoped for. Softly, he ran his hand through Mario’s hair. It was unbelievable that Mario really wanted him. Him, a monster, immortal, living on blood, murderous if he wasn’t fiendishly careful. And Mario didn’t care one bit.

Mario was in love with him, he had felt that when he had invaded his thoughts. Why, he would never understand. But it felt so good. He pulled Mario tighter towards himself and kissed his forehead. Mario moved again slightly and mumbled something incoherent.

“My boyfriend,” Thomas whispered barely audible.

“Hm?” Mario hummed.

“Go back to sleep,” Thomas whispered.

“I’m… not tired,” Mario muttered.

Thomas laughed quietly. “No you’re not.”

Mario grinned sleepily. “I’m totally awake.”

Thomas nodded again and laughed with it. “Totally. Ready to run a marathon.”

“Don’t make fun of me,” Mario ordered him, but grinning.

“I wouldn’t dare,” Thomas laughed.

“You’re doing it though,” Mario pretended to sigh and looked up at THomas.

“I’m laughing with you, never at you,” Thomas grinned.

“Bully,” Mario grumbled.

“That’s right…”

Mario nodded. Then he scooched up a bit and kissed Thomas softly on the mouth. Immediately, Thomas’ grin turned into a happy smile.

“So you didn’t convince yourself otherwise,” Mario whispered.

“Was I supposed to do that?” Thomas asked. “You’re the best thing that could happen to me. Even if there’s still some things that we have to discuss.”

“You fought it so much,” Mario murmured. “Occasionally I really thought you didn’t want anything to do with me.”

“I was fighting against drinking from you. And I’ll keep doing that. But everything else…”

“But it’s all tied together,” Mario said quietly. “The blood and our relationship.”

“Not now, not today, ok?” Thomas asked quietly.

“Ok,” Mario nodded.

“Drink something,” Thomas asked and pushed the almost empty water bottle into Mario’s hand. Mario nodded and emptied the rest of the bottle.

“Ok, and now the juice,” Thomas poured him some.

“Yes mom,” Mario grinned at him. Thomas pushed the glass into his hands. Mario emptied it in a few gulps as well.

“More?” Thomas asked. Mario nodded and handed him his glass. Thomas gave him the rest of the bottle and looked at him questioningly. “Even more? There’s some in the kitchen.”

“This’ll do,” Mario shook his head. “Besides, I don’t want to let you go.”

“You’ll have to -- unless I’m supposed to carry you into the bathroom,” Thomas laughed. Mario grinned and stuck his tongue out at him. “Behave,” Thomas laughed and punched him softly in the side.

“I always behave,” Mario said. Thomas nodded unconvinced. “What, you have complaints?” Mario asked.

“I’ve known you for a while,” Thomas grinned.

“Yeah, and?”

“In the hotel in Hamburg? Or at training recently when you and Basti with the balls… or when we went to Oktoberfest together?”

“Oh yeah, Oktoberfest,” Mario laughed. “That was fun. And you were wearing lederhosen!”

Thomas laughed too, “I wear them more often than you do. And I belong in them.”

“I’m not sure,” Mario said. “It was kind of strange.”

Thomas shrugged. “I wear them a lot around the farm back home. It’s more robust.”

“My vampire in lederhosen,” Mario grinned.

“Better than your vampire in a pink tutu!” Thomas protested. Mario laughed loudly. Thomas just pulled him closer. “Do you want to sleep more? Or stand up?”

Mario thought about it for a bit. “I think I want to go for a walk.”

Thomas nodded. “The weather’s good too, and if you feel good again…”

“I never felt bad,” Mario clarified immediately.

“You just folded up earlier,” Thomas murmured and looked at him seriously.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Mario grumbled.

“I drank too much, so don’t pretend now that everything was fine,” Thomas huffed.

“You only drank so much because you’d forbidden it from yourself for so long.”

Thomas shook his head. “No, because you taste so good.”

“And because you needed it,” Mario maintained.

“Not that much. Vampires never need that much.”

“You’ll get used to my taste and it’ll be easier for you,” Mario was sure.

“Get used to your taste? No. Never,” Thomas shook his head. “But we said that we weren’t tasking about this today. So come on, going out a bit will do you good.”

Mario nodded and pushed himself slowly off the bed. He’d barely set his feet on the floor before Thomas was standing in front of him with fresh clothes. Mario just shook his head fascinated. Thomas was unbelievably fast.

“What is it?” Thomas asked.

“I still think it’s incredible how fast you are.”

Thomas hesitated, then he grinned. “I didn’t want to keep you waiting.” Mario laughed and began to get dressed. Thomas also changed, but so fast that Mario could barely follow him with his eyes.

“That’s unfair,” he whined immediately. “I couldn’t watch you get dressed.”

Thomas grinned. “Next time ok?”

“Fine,” Mario sighed. “Let’s go?”

Thomas nodded. “Where do you want to go?”

“Dunno,” Mario said. “Bum around a bit.” Thomas nodded and grabbed his keys, money, and phone. He needed to call Jakob later. Mario waited for him and they left Thomas’ apartment together.


	26. A Slooooow Walk

They went down the stairs, then Thomas steered them left, they’d eventually leave the city in that direction. “If you were alone, you’d go faster right?” Mario asked.

Thomas shrugged. “So? We don’t really want to get anywhere.”

“I was just thinking,” Mario said.

Thomas grabbed his hand. “And you think I want to run off now and leave you alone?”

“No,” Mario smiled. “I know you want to be with me. But isn’t it difficult to constantly pay attention to my feeble pace?”

Thomas shook his head. “No it’s not. At training or when I’m walking around the city -- I’m almost never moving at… at my pace.”

“Why?”

“Hm? Why? Because people would notice. If I were to end up at the other end of the pitch in one or one-and-a-half seconds in front of the opponent’s goal -- with the ball.”

Mario laughed. “It would be good for us though. Then we’d definitely be champions this season.”

“I don’t think that I’d be fit to play if what I am came out. And… I like playing football too much.”

“But I thought you can influence people,” Mario said and looked at Thomas questioningly.

“Not a whole stadium.”

“Hm,” Mario said deep in thought. “Too many people?”

“I can convince individuals of something which they already believe. Calming you so you could sleep, that worked because you let it. But so many people -- you could only do it with the same number of vampires, certainly not me alone.”

Mario nodded. It sounded sensible to him. “Do you have to do it often? Influence people?”

A head shake was the answer. “I try to avoid it. The doctor, I have to influence him often so he thinks he examined me. The doping tests I manage to pull off -- it would be hard, there are too many people involved with them.”

“And your friends?” Mario asked. “Michi and them?”

Thomas shook his head. “I try not to be conspicuous, and up to now I haven’t had to yet.”

“So you live completely normally.”

“Aside from my canned blood?”

“Aside from that,” Mario grinned.

“Aside from that yes.”

“I always thought that vampires were different,” Mario said. “Closer to like in the books.”

“I think that coffins are… uncomfortable. And what’s spaghetti without garlick? And how could I get around rural Bavaria, around my family, if I were afraid of crosses?”

Mario laughed again. “It really would be hard to avoid garlic. My family cooks a lot with it.”

Thomas smiled, but the smile died eventually. “Your… family?”

Mario nodded. “I… what’s up?”

“You… want me to… meet your family?”

“Of course,” Mario said. “Or… do you not want to?”

“No, I… I just hadn’t thought about it. But of course you’re right, after all I want to take you with me to Pähl. And you should also get to know Jakob.”

“Well, see then,” Mario smiled.

Thomas nodded. “But… not straight away, ok?”

“No, but sometime I’d like to,” Mario said.

Thomas nodded. “Sometime… works.”

Mario grabbed Thomas’ hand. “I’m sorry if it was too fast.”

“It’s ok. You let yourself be slowed down.”

“I’m just so happy that you’re giving us a chance,” Mario explained. “After you told me about yourself… I’d basically given up.”

Somewhat surprised, Thomas looked at him. “Why?”

“Because you ignored me so much the last couple of weeks.”

“I was afraid. Afraid to hurt you and… to kill you. And I almost did.”

Mario shrugged. He didn’t want to talk about the topic anymore. And Thomas was more than ok with that.

“And this Jakob,” Mario continued after a minute. “Will he have something against us?”

Thomas shook his head immediately. “He thought from the beginning that I should give us a chance.”

“And why didn’t you listen to him?”

“Because I like you too much.”

Mario stayed still and looked at Thomas. “Are you happy now then?” he asked. Thomas just nodded and pulled him into his arms. Mario cuddled into him. “Me too,” he whispered. Thomas felt a happy smile while he simply held Mario. “We’ll manage everything else somehow,” Mario said.

“Absolutely,” Thomas nodded. Mario smiled and freed himself from the hug. “Back?” Thomas suggested.

Mario nodded. “It’s getting cold.”

“Then come,” Thomas smiled at him and turned around to go back the same way. Mario followed him. The way back, they were quiet and just enjoyed being close to each other. In the apartment, Thomas shoved Mario into the living room and onto the sofa. Mario let himself sink into the cushion and looked at Thomas.

“I’ll make supper,” he decided.

“Oh, yeah!” Mario said immediately. “I could use some food now.”

“What are you hungry for?”

“Dunno,” Mario said.

“Veggie casserole? Do you like broccoli?”

Mario nodded. “Should I help you?”

“You can sit on the kitchen bench and talk to me,” Thomas suggested.

Mario laughed and stood up. “Are you afraid that I’ll do something wrong? I can cook perfectly well.”

“Do you want to train tomorrow? Then you need to rest today. Be happy that I’m not sending you straight to bed.”

Mario rolled his eyes. “Ok, I’ll sit here obediently and watch you work.”

“That’s right,” Thomas grinned.

“Then come on,” Mario said and took Thomas’ hand to pull him into the kitchen. There, Thomas shoved him onto a bench in the corner, gave him something to drink, and began peeling potatoes. A bit later, there was a tasty casserole bubbling in the oven.

“Can vampires even have sex?” Mario asked when Thomas sat down next to him. “Or does it only work with biting and blood and stuff.”

Thomas smiled. “Honestly? I have no idea. With Lars… I slept with him. And drank from him. I’d guess it works without blood but - I don’t know.”

Mario nodded in thought. “And can you have children?”

Thomas shook his head. “We don’t have any… bodily fluids.”

“Oh,” Mario murmured, then grinned. “So you do have something in common with the vampires in books.”

Thomas chuckled. “I still don’t have a pulse.”

Mario nodded. “And you don’t breathe. At least, almost never when I’m around.”

Thomas chuckled again. “Right now I’m breathing. You smell so good, I can’t get enough of it. But when I’m hungry, then I’ll stop.”

“What do I smell like?” Mario asked curious.

“I can barely describe it,” Thomas said. “Your blood is… like a fresh beer, if you’ve only ever had lukewarm pop before, I explained it to Michael like that.”

Mario laughed. “So I’m a glass of fresh beer?”

“Cool, fresh, and on a hot summer day.” Still laughing, Mario leaned against Thomas. Thomas turned his head and deepened the kiss. Immediately, Mario close his eyes and deepened the kiss.

Eventually, Thomas released himself. “Hey... I would like to call Jakob…”

Mario nodded. “Do it. I… I’d like to shower.”

Thomas nodded. “You know where the bathroom is.” Mario stood up. He placed a kiss on Thomas’ forehead and then vanished into the bathroom.


	27. Jakob's Advice

Thomas pulled out his phone and dialed Jakob’s number. They hadn’t had any contact for a few weeks, Thomas hadn’t wanted to listen to what he was doing wrong.

“Thomas,” Jakob answered.

“Hey,” Thomas greeted him.

“I was worried, Thomas.”

Thomas sighed quietly, that was exactly what he hadn’t wanted to hear.

“What was wrong?”

“It began with Lars,” Thomas told him. “He tasted so good and lively. It held out for one, two weeks but… not longer.”

“That was to be expected,” Jakob said calmly.

“I drank my cans again but -- they only helped for a few minutes, then everything started from scratch again.”

Jakob sighed. “I warned you, little one. Only a few vampires can manage going back to animal blood after enjoying human blood.”

“You didn’t warn me, you told me I should try it out!”

“Because you were doing badly, Thomas,” Jakob reminded him. “And I also said that every vampire reacts differently to blood. Some can live off of animal blood without problems, other need human blood eventually.”

“Apparently I do too,” Thomas sighed. “I kept training and playing but… not as well as usual. Until this afternoon, after training. I… I was so thirsty.”

“What happened?” Jakob asked a bit tensely.

“I went home and drunk my blood. Four cans. One of them I even warmed up because I hoped it would work better. It didn’t.”

“And then?”

“I was laying on my sofa, completely exhausted. I was freezing and shivering and could barely move. Jakob, that’s how I imagine starving…”

“Why didn’t you call me?” Jakob asked reproachfully.

“Because I knew what you would have said. ‘Go out, find a person, drink.’”

“Yes, and I hope that you did it.”

“The person… found me. And when I didn’t want to, Mario cut his own finger.”

Jakob was quiet for a minute, then he laughed. “Your Mario seems to be quite headstrong.”

“Which almost killed him. I… I drank way too much. I was so thirsty, and he tasted even better than I thought. Way better than he smells.”

“They always do when feelings are in the cards,” Jakob murmured. “And how’s he doing now?”

“Better. He drank a lot, orange juice and water, and ate some. I hope he can get through training tomorrow.”

“Then everything went well.”

Thomas nodded. “For now at least. I just don’t know what’ll happen if I…”

“You’re still afraid,” Jakob deduced.

“Of course. I almost killed him today. And he doesn’t want me to drink from someone else.”

Jakob laughed again. “That’s understandable, isn’t it? Drinking blood from someone is something private, intimate. If you really find a partner, then you usually don’t drink from another person. The other’s blood wouldn’t taste good anyway.”

Thomas nodded. “I can imagine. But… can’t you kill your partner? If you drink too much? Mario was… he was so weak…”

“You stopped in time, didn’t you? Because you sensed that you shouldn’t drink more.”

Thomas shook his head. “No. Because he told me. And even then it was so damn hard for me.”

“You waited too long to drink,” Jakob said. “If you drink regularly, you’ll gain a sense of it.”

“And what if I kill him before then?”

“You won’t,” Jakob was sure.

“You mean I should… I really should get involved with this?”

“That’s not the question Thomas. The question is more if you can do without him?”

Thomas swallowed, hesitated a moment, then shook his head. “But eventually I’ll have to.”

“If you decide not to make Mario one of us, yes,” Jakob nodded.

Thomas swallowed. He hesitated, then posed the question, “Why didn’t you…?”

“Because she didn’t want it,” Jakob said quietly. “She loved her life as a human and had come to terms with dying eventually.”

Thomas nodded slightly. “It must have been hard… to watch her age and die.”

“It was. But we had many wonderful years together. I wouldn’t want to give up the memories for anything in the world.”

Thomas had to swallow, it must have been really hard. And not even have the hope of seing her after death in some way -- because Jakob would never die.

“It’s not a decision you have to make now Thomas,” Jakob said. “Just enjoy the time with Mario for now.”

Thomas nodded unconvinced.

“What’s wrong?” Jakob asked immediately.

“The time won’t be very long…”

“You’re making your own life hard, little one,” Jakob muttered, shaking his head.

“I’m just afraid of being with him -- and then losing him eventually.”

“You have two options Thomas. Either you enjoy it and are with him or you make him forget the last days and weeks and stay far away from him.”

Thomas shook his head. “I promised him I wouldn’t make him forget anything. And wouldn’t manipulate him unless he asked.”

“Then talk to him and tell him what you’re afraid of.”

“Then he’ll probably let himself be transformed for me -- and regret it.”

“He won’t,” Jakob was sure. “Your Mario isn’t an idiot and it’s still way too early for such a decision.”

“And until then he’ll just get older…”

Jakob sighed. “Should I come to you and talk to him together?”

Thomas hesitated. “Not today, but… maybe…”

“Just call and I’ll come,” Jakob said.

“Thanks,” Thomas nodded. “I… Listen, Mario’s coming out of the bath.”

“Then take care of him,” Jakob laughed.

“Will do. Talk to you later… and Jakob? Thanks.” Without waiting for an answer, he hung up and looked around.


	28. The Good of Having a Vampire Nose

He sensed Mario immediately with all of his senses -- felt, heard, smelled, and saw. And each realization alone took his breath away.

Mario had only slung a towel around his hips. His hair was hanging wet over his forehead and his skin was also glittering, still damp. “Everything ok?”

Thomas barely waited, then he stood up and went as fast as he could to Mario. Mario blinked surprised when Thomas was suddenly standing in front of him. “Did you reach Jakob?”

Thomas nodded. “He’s happy for us,” he told him.

“Nice,” Mario smiled.

Involuntarily, Thomas leaned into him and kissed him. Mario placed a hand on Thomas’ neck and deepened the kiss immediately. With his eyes closed, Thomas enjoyed the kiss and pulled Mario closer. Naked, damp, warm skin… and Mario’s attractive smell too.

He wasn’t thirsty anymore, how could he be, but he could clearly imagine drinking again, just a little… Mario had slung his arms around Thomas’ body and pressed himself tightly against him.

“Mario,” Thomas whispered between the kisses and tried to suppress the growing teeth.

Mario gasped and pushed even tighter against Thomas. A small moment, Thomas allowed it, then he pushed Mario gently away.

“What… why are you stopping?” Mario asked roughly.

Thomas flashed his extended canines. “I need to get usssed to you firssst…”

Mario looked at him curious. “Are you already hungry again?”

Thomas shook his head. “Just… have an appetite. You know, no matter how full you are -- when dessert comes, it’s always delicious.”

Mario grinned and stepped closer to him. “So I’m dessert.”

“Hmm,” Thomas grinned and showed his sharp teeth again. “Damn tasty dessert.”

Mario laid his arms around Thomas’ hips and pulled him in close. Very carefully, he placed a kiss on his lips. Quietly, Thomas sighed, he had never imagined having a boyfriend would be so nice.

Mario kept the kiss going for a minute, then he released himself from Thomas. “I need to get dressed.”

“Pity,” Thomas whispered and watched him.

Mario turned to him and winked at him. Then he kept walking while releasing the knot on his towel. Thomas had to gulp hard when he saw that, then couldn’t let the invitation go to waste and ran after Mario, so that he ended up getting to the bed before Mario did.

Mario chuckled. “It seems someone’s impatient.”

“You don’t want it different,” Thomas grinned and pulled him in close.

“You’re pretty irresistible,” Mario said.

He pulled Thomas closer to himself and kissed him passionately. A rough growl came out of Thomas as he returned the kiss hungrily. Instinctively, Mario pushed himself tighter on him, right when Thomas suddenly let go of him.

“What is it?”

Thomas raised his nose in the air. “I’m going to pull the casserole out of the oven.” He vanished immediately and was back near Mario barely a second later.

“I didn’t smell anything at all,” Mario declared.

“You need to clean your nose,” Thomas grinned and kissed him.

“Hey,” Mario said outraged. “There’s nothing wrong with my nose.”

“You didn’t smell the casserole,” Thomas grinned broader.

“It’s just not a vampire nose,” Mario said and stuck his tongue out at Thomas.

“Be happy that I have one -- otherwise there only would have been charcoal to eat,” Thomas nodded and kissed him again.

Mario nodded and wrapped his arms around Thomas again. “So, where were we before the mean old casserole interrupted us?”

Thomas laughed and pulled him closer again. “Here, I think,” he kissed him again.

Mario shoved a hand into Thomas’ hair and returned the kiss. Thomas gasped quietly and felt the slight tug while his canines grew again. Softly, Mario shoved him towards the bed.

Immediately, Thomas let himself fall and pulled Mario with him. Mario landed on Thomas and started up the kiss again immediately. “You feel… so good,” he gasped into the kiss and pushed himself tighter against him.

“God, Mario,” Thomas moaned and ran his hands across Mario’s naked back.

Mario didn’t say anything, pushing himself even tighter against Thomas. Thomas felt Mario getting more and more aroused. His smell changed, seemed to become even more intense and enticing.

If it was the special smell or Mario’s movements, his kisses, his noticeable presence against his entire body, Thomas didn’t know why he was already so aroused that he was on the brink of coming.

Forcefully, he rolled over and onto Mario, releasing the kiss for a moment. His entire body vibrated. He liked his sharp canines, and it wasn’t easy for him to hold back and not bite Mario.

Mario looked at him with dark eyes, noticeably aroused. “Why are you stopping?” he asked with a raw voice. Thomas gasped, he couldn’t find any words. He moved a bit, then kissed Mario again.

Mario also gasped and ran a hand under Thomas’ shirt. The warmth, the heat from Mario’s hand seemed to set his entire skin on fire. Mario kept inching his hand higher and higher. “Take it off,” he whispered roughly against Thomas’ lips after a while.

Faster than Mario could watch, Thomas was free of the piece of clothing, and his jeans and boxers were also gone soon. He groaned when he felt Thomas’ naked skin on his.

Thomas broke the kiss and buried his nose into Mario’s neck. The smell that he could feel so much in -- vivacity, passion, affection…

Mario’s hands ran down Thomas’ back, until he reached the firm curve of his backside. Even tighter and closer, Thomas pushed himself against him while he kept sucking in Mario’s scent. Mario spread his legs and let Thomas slip between them.

Thomas gasped again and licked Mario’s carotid artery. So alive, so hot, so pulsing…

Mario raised his hips slightly and began rubbing against Thomas. That made Thomas moan hoarsely and he began sucking Mario’s neck involuntarily.

Mario gasped. “God… Thomas… that’s so good.”

Thomas pushed himself against him, tighter and tighter, and in at the very moment he came, he punctured Mario’s skin with his canine. Mario wrapped his arms tighter around Thomas and came too. A quiet scream, with his head resting in Thomas’ shoulder, his whole body was shaking and trembling.

Again, it had been incredibly intense. Very different to his ex-boyfriend. And also unlike with his ex, he didn’t feel bad and dirty afterwards, because Thomas handled him way too gently and carefully. Thomas licked the small wound on Mario’s neck and kissed it, then he rolled off of Mario and pulled him close.

Mario immediately snuggled into him. “Sorry about that,” Thomas whispered and pet his neck.

“Why?” Mario asked quietly.

“I didn’t want to bite you…”

“It was only a tiny bite Thomas,” Mario said softly.

“Still… I didn’t ask you and… I’ve already drunk enough today.”

“You don’t have to ask me,” Mario said.

“I wanted too… then I would have had everything under control,” Thomas murmured.

Mario sighed. “What did Jakob say about your fears?”

“He thinks we should wait… and he offered to come here.”

“Not a bad idea, right?” Mario asked.

Thomas leaned against Mario’s naked shoulder with his eyes closed. “But not today…”

Mario shook his head immediately. “Not today…”

“Can I leave you alone for a second? The casserole smells really good, and it’s getting cold.”

Mario nodded and sat up. “But hurry, ok?”

“You’ll barely notice me gone,” Thomas promised, and in fact, it barely took him three seconds before he was back in the bedroom with dishes, silverware, and the casserole dish.

Mario hadn’t even had time to crawl under the covers.

“Come here,” Thomas offered and pulled him in for a hug, then he filled up plates for them.

Mario cuddled into Thomas’ side and took his plate. “It smells really good.”

“Hopefully it tastes good too,” Thomas nodded and handed Mario a plate.

“I trust you,” Mario laughed and tried a bit of broccoli.

It was still slightly firm, and the light herby sauce tasted wonderful.

“Delicious,” he nodded.

“Good,” Thomas smiled and ate too.

There was silent for a bit while they both happily ate the casserole.

Once the biggest part of Mario’s hunger had been stilled, he started a conversation again and started questioning Thomas.

He wanted to know everything. About Thomas’ life before and after the transformation.

And also about the transformation itself.

“How does exactly does it work?” he asked and looked at Thomas curious. “Becoming a vampire.”

While they were talking, Thomas had covered them and pulled Mario firmly into his arms. “I’ve never done it myself, so I only know it from word-of-mouth. I barely remember my own transformation.”

“Is it like in books?”

“In which book?” Thomas asked and grinned.

“Well… in most books, the vampire has to drink first and then the one who’s being transformed.”

Thomas nodded. “The books are partly correct there. But -- the vampire has to have drunk from someone else first, otherwise he wouldn’t have any blood for the transformee to drink.”

Mario wrinkled his forehead. “You would have to bite someone else to change me?”

Thomas nodded and tried not to show his surprise about the question.

“Mhm,” Mario said, not particularly enthused.

“You… you’re not seriously thinking about it, are you?”

“Not immediately no, but…” Mario shrugged. Thomas just nodded and suppressed every thought about it.

“Does it hurt?”

Gently, Thomas pulled him closer. “Yes it does. Not the bite itself but… the vampire drinks more, way more than I did today. And that… it’s scary and it hurts.”

Mario nodded slightly. That was expected. Thomas kissed him tenderly. Immediately, Mario smiled again. “Will you promise me something?”

“What?” Thomas asked him.

“If I ask you to… to change me, then do it,” Mario said seriously. Thomas gulped hard. “Thomas? Will you promise me?”

Thomas hesitated, then shook his head. “Only if I’m very convinced that it’s right. That you really want it, and that it’s not a spontaneous idea that you’ll regret later.”

“Do you really think I would decide it spontaneously?” Mario asked.

Thomas shrugged. “I just want to be convinced that it’s right. The decision is too… wide-reaching for me to just give you a free ride ticket.”

“Ok,” Mario nodded. “I can live with that.”

Thomas kissed him, very tenderly, and pulled him a bit closer.

“Nice,” Mario whispered and snuggled into him.

“It is,” Thomas smiled.

Mario closed his eyes content.

“Sleep a little bit, tomorrow we have training, and you still need to recover.”

“Ok,” Mario murmured.

Thomas kissed him gently and pulled the blankets higher.

It didn’t take long for Mario to fall asleep again. Thomas watched him sleep for a while, then he cleaned up and laid down next to him. Immediately, Mario cuddled against Thomas’ body.

Thomas closed his eyes. It felt so good to sleep next to his boyfriend. In fact, it felt good to have a boyfriend, he thought while he slowly fell into rest. Mario was so warm, and tight, muscular -- and his boyfriend. Who was incredibly stubborn.

Thomas grinned, he had his own chunk of stubbornness. But Mario seemed to completely overtrump him. Otherwise his decision to bite Mario would never have been turned around. And he could see it coming that he’d also… transform Mario.

Even thouh he’d sworn to never do that to another person. But Mario just had to look at him with those damn blue eyes and all his resolve came crumbling down.

That and the fact that Mario hadn’t really left him a choice. He had to first get to the idea to hurt himself with a knife. No one could have resisted that. Mario was… the best thing which could have happened to him. With that thought, he also fell asleep.


	29. Packing

He woke up right on time, like always. Mario was still lying cuddled tight against his side. The tip of his nose pressed against Thomas’ neck and his arm slung tightly around him. He smiled happily and kissed him softly.

Mario pulled his nose back a bit, but didn’t wake up. Thomas kissed him again and began stroking his back. Eventually, Mario’s eyes opened slowly. “Hmm,” he hummed happily.

“Good morning,” Thomas whispered.

“Morning,” Mario smiled.

Thomas returned the smile and kissed him. Immediately, Mario sunk into the kiss. Every morning could begin just like this. But much too soon, Thomas broke off the kiss. “You have to get up. We both do.”

“Darn,” Mario muttered.

“After training…” Thomas promised but then interrupted himself, “we have to pack.”

“Pack? Oh yeah,” Mario said.

“We’re going to Dortmund tonight.”

“I’m already excited,” Mario nodded.

“Then out of the covers.”

“At your command,” Mario laughed and straightened up. Thomas kissed him once more, then stood up too. Mario followed him. He stretched slightly and looked at the clock. “Can you loan me a pair of boxers and a sweater?” he asked.

“Sure,” Thomas nodded and grabbed some things for him quickly out of the dresser.

“Thanks,” Mario smiled. “I’ll be in the shower.”

“See you soon,” Thomas nodded and stood up as well to prepare breakfast. Mario hurried under the shower and came into the kitchen soon fully dressed.

Thomas was already sitting on the bench waiting for him. Mario sat down next to him and grabbed his hand. Thomas smiled slightly and squeezed his hand.

“Do you think we’ll be able to get a room together somehow?” Mario asked.

“We’ll try at least,” Thomas smiled. “But we’ll have to keep ourselves together. You have to be fit tomorrow.”

“But I’ll definitely sleep better if you’re next to me.”

“If you want, I can help you fall asleep again.”

Mario nodded. “Although I don’t really have so much to think about to keep me from sleeping.”

“Did it?” Thomas asked quietly.

“Sometimes,” Mario admitted.

“Sorry…”

Mario shrugged. “It all turned out alright in the end.”

“And I’m very happy about it.”

Mario beamed immediately. “Me too.”

“Come on, eat,” Thomas ordered him.

“And coffee,” Mario nodded and grabbed his mug which was steaming.

“Of course. You have to be awake otherwise you’ll get in trouble.”

“I’m perfectly awake,” Mario grinned.

Thomas grinned. “Then I can drink your coffee.”

Mario snorted. “I should have known. You maybe can have a taste if you ask very nicely.”

“May I?” Thomas asked and looked at him sweetly.

“Do I get a kiss too?” Mario asked grinning.

Grinning back, Thomas looked at him and kissed him. “Now?”

“One gulp,” Mario nodded and handed the cup to Thomas. Thomas grinned and drank one gulp obediently. Mario nodded satisfied and then picked up a piece of toast. Thomas also took a toast and ate it with marmelade.

“Do we want to tell someone about us?” Mario asked while he spread his second piece of toast with cream cheese.

Thomas hesitated. “Dunno.” Then he grinned. “We at least have one fewer problem than everyone else -- if someone’s not ok with it, then I talk it out of their head.”

Mario grinned a bit sheepishly. “I’d like it if a few friends were let in on the secret.”

Thomas nodded. “Who are you thinking of?”

“Michi?” Mario suggested. “And maybe Philipp?”

Thomas nodded. “We can start with those two.”

Mario smiled. “Great.”

“Today? This evening in the hotel?”

“It’d be a good opportunity,” Mario nodded.

“Ok then we’ll do that tonight. And if we don’t want to run any penalty laps, we should head off now.”

“Always so hectic in the mornings,” Mario grinned and drank the rest of his coffee quickly.

“I could have woken you earlier,” Thomas grinned.

Mario shook his head fast. “A bit of a rush in the morning maybe isn’t so bad.”

Thomas laughed quietly and cleaned up quickly while Mario stood up.

A bit later, they left the house fully dressed. “My car or yours?” Mario asked.

Thomas shrugged. “Yours? Mine’s still at the training grounds.”

“Ok,” Mario grinned and pulled his car keys out of his bag. They got in, and Mario grove them directly to the training grounds. They still had a bit of time, so they gave a few autographs to the waiting fans before they went into the locker room.

Michi was already changing and stared at them when they walked in the room.

“Morning,” Mario greeted him pleasantly as he walked past him to his locker.

“Morning,” Michi muttered, “you’re talking again?”

Mario looked at Thomas. “Are we talking again?”

“I think so,” Thomas nodded and then looked at Michi. “What do you think?”

“I’m… speechless,” Michi said. “How did that happen?”

Thomas shrugged and looked at Mario.

“If you’re very nice, we’ll tell you later,” Mario answered.

“Why not now?”

“It’ll take a while,” Mario explained.

“Hm -- if you say so. This afternoon?”

“In the hotel,” Thomas shook his head.

“So long?”

Mario laughed. “So long. You think you’ll survive?”

“I’ll try…”

Thomas grinned and began changing. Mario joined him and shortly after Michi left the room, they were ready too. Mario smiled at Thomas once and then pulled his hat on. “It’s cold,” he grinned at Thomas’ look.

“Still, that hat’s ugly,” Thomas grinned.

“There’s worse,” Mario said.

“You think?”

Mario nodded. “Definitely. And now off with you.”

Thomas nodded and started running, very comfortably, paying attention to the pace of the others.

“Can I at least get a hint?” Michi asked from next to him suddenly.

“Hm?” Thomas said and looked at him questioningly.

“What’s up with you and Mario,” Michi said.

“You’ll find out this evening.”

Michi grumbled. “You’re just building up the tension.”

“Practice some patience!”

“I’m really bad at it, practicing won’t help,” Michi grinned at him.

“Go, you’re needed,” Thomas interrupted the begging.

Michi rolled his eyes and then ran to Jörg and Thomas who were already standing with their goalkeeping coach. “Til later,” Thomas called after him, then ran a bit forward to join Mario.

“Did he try to squeeze it out of you?” Mario asked with a grin.

“Of course,” Thomas grinned. “But I’m making him wait for later.”

“Good job. Michi can be quite a strain on the nerves.”

Thomas laughed. “He’ll know soon enough.”

“Do you think he’ll take it well?”

Thomas sighed quietly. “No idea… we can only hope.”

“I’m not worried about Philipp, but with Michi I just don’t know,” Mario murmured.

“Then let’s tell Philipp first. Or tell them together?”

“No idea,” Mario said honestly.

“Together,” Thomas decided shortly. “Then Philipp can work on him in an emergency.”

“Ok,” Mario nodded agreeing. They ran a bit farther, then the training begin. In the cold weather, training wasn’t particularly fun. And everyone, even Thomas, was happy when they finally could go under the warm showers.

They said goodbye to their teammates quickly and drove home, in other words, first to Mario’s then to Thomas’, to pack. On the way, they bought a couple of baguette sandwiches which they ate at Thomas’. Then they had to be off again to the training grounds, and from there to the airport.

During the flight they sat next to each other. Mario was listening to music and was leaning against Thomas’ shoulder with his eyes closed. Nothing too unusual in airplanes, so they could risk it without a problem.

Thomas sat very still as well, he took up the state of calm that many would describe as sleep. When they touched down on the runway, he opened his eyes again and then woke up Mario too.

He smiled at him, then looked out the window. “Ugh, it’s cold!”

“Winter,” Thomas laughed.

“Yeah, disgusting. They should get rid of it.”

“I like winter,” Thomas shook his head.

“Really? Why?”

“It’s just nice,” Thomas said. “The whole atmosphere and… less sun.”

“The stuff with the sun, you have to explain that to me again when we’re alone,” Mario requested.

Thomas nodded. “Will do.”

The airplane was already taxiing and a bit later they could stand up and leave the airplane. Mario suppressed a shiver when he stepped into the cold.


	30. Michi and Phil

The cold didn’t bother Thomas, and he would have liked to pull Mario into his arms and protect him from the cold wind during the short trip to the airport bus.

“I’m jealous you don’t feel the cold,” Mario grumbled quietly, burying his hands into his coat.

Thomas grinned sheepishly. “Only if I’ve drunk recently…”

“Really?”

“You saw me freezing yesterday,” Thomas reminded him.

“True,” Mario nodded. “Does that happen with the cans too?”

“Up til now, but… we’ll have to see if the cans’ll even work at all anymore.”

“As far as I’m concerned, you don’t need them anymore,” Mario said.

“We still have time to discuss it, and an airport can’t be the right place for it. But… I don’t want to keep you as an animal to milk…”

“We’ve been through this before,” Mario muttered shaking his head. “Besides you’re right. We should discuss this behind closed doors.”

In the meantime, Michi had caught up to them and was looking at them observantly. “What?” Mario asked him.

“I think it’s amazing how you’ve made up with each other.”

Thomas shrugged. “Just be happy.”

“Of course I’m happy for you, but… I’m still surprised.”

“A bit more patience Michi.”

Michi sighed deeply and followed them wordlessly out of the airport. In front of the airport, the bus which would take them to their hotel was already waiting for them. Luckily, it wasn’t too far, and they could leave the bus soon and check in to the hotel.

“And should we ask about the room?” Mario asked Thomas quietly.

Thomas nodded immediately. “You have to be put to sleep after all.” Mario smiled happily.

“Should I talk to the trainer?”

“I’ll come with you,” Mario said straight away.

Thomas nodded, and together they went looking for their trainer.

“Trainer?” Thomas asked.

“Hm? What can I do for you?”

“Mario and I have a request,” Thomas explained.

“Which is?”

“We’d like to have a room together today,” Thomas said.

“Have you set aside your argument?”

Thomas nodded. “Thankfully.”

“Then I won’t stand in your way,” the trainer nodded.

Mario smiled. “Thank you.”

“As long as you’re both fit tomorrow, I don’t care who…”

“We’ll be fit, no worries,” Thomas promised with a smile.

“Then go get a room together,” the trainer just nodded at them.

Quickly, Mario and Thomas went to reception and got themselves keycards for a double room. They found Michi just getting into the elevator and told him their room number, Philipp they’d call shortly. Michi must have just dropped off his bags in his room, so quickly he was in front of their door again knocking.

“Curious lot,” Thomas laughed and let him in.

“Don’t you know,” Michi grinned at him.

“Actually, we wanted to wait for Phil still,” Mario said and sat down on the bed.

“Phil?” Michi asked astonished.

Thomas shrugged. “Not good?”

“No it’s fine, I was just surprised,” Michi said and sat down next to Mario.

Soon thereafter, there was another knock and Philipp entered the room. “So, you have something important to announce?”

“Sit down,” Thomas said.

Philipp nodded and sat down next to Thomas. “So?”

“Well, we’d like to tell you something,” Mario began. Michi and Philipp watched him attentively. “We had a bit of… a fight the last couple of weeks,” Mario continued.

Michi nodded. “Couldn’t have missed that. And now you’ve reconciled?”

“Sort of,” Thomas nodded with a grin. He scooted a bit closer to Mario.

Philipp raised an eyebrow and then grinned. “Oh, so that’s what it is!”

Thomas nodded. “Yep, that’s what it is.”

“What’s what?” Michi asked confused.

“Come on, it’s not so hard,” Phil grinned at him. “When two people like each other a lot…”

Michi tore his eyes open. “You…?”

Mario nodded a bit unsure. “Is it… bad?”

Michi gulped visibly and didn’t seem to know what he should say.

“Michi, what…?” Mario asked, while Thomas very cautiously reached into Michi’s feelings. There was a lot of confusion and Thomas could also sense a lot of judgments that Michael had against gays in general and gay footballers especially. Only his close friendship to Mario and him was keeping him from jumping up and leaving the room. He tried to calm Michi a little bit, at least take away the confusion and give him a few positive feelings.

“So tell us,” Philipp said while Thomas was doing that. “How did it happen.”

“It began when we… well a couple of weeks ago. But I didn’t want to. Not because I didn’t want Mario but… I thought it would be better, simpler, if we were to just leave it. But when I was really sick yesterday, Mario was there and… well, then it happened.”

Philipp smiled. Thomas didn’t need to feel what Philipp was thinking. He was happy for them, that was very obvious. Michi was giving him more concerns.

“Michi?” Mario asked quietly. “Is… everything ok?”

He glanced at Thomas and felt the friendly and calming feelings he was sending Michi even as a bystander.

“It’ll be ok,” Michi muttered. “It’s just… surprising.”

“You’ll come to terms with it?” Mario asked quietly.

Michi took a deep breath, then nodded. “Just give me some time.”

“Of course,” Thomas smiled at him.

“Thank you,” Michi said and stood up. “We’ll see each other at dinner then?”

All three of them nodded immediately. “Oh uh… don’t say anything, ok?” Mario asked him.

“Of course,” Michi said and vanished out of the room.

Somewhat more relaxed, Thomas leaned back, he had done what he could and hopefully with success. Philipp considered him. “How did you manage that?”

“What do you mean -- what did I manage?” Thomas asked him.

“With Michi.”

“And what do you think I did with him?”

“That’s what I’m asking you,” Philipp asked.

“Yes but -- what do you mean?” Thomas asked again. “I didn’t hit him or step on him…?”

“I… no idea how to describe it but you… looked at him strangely and then he became more calm and relaxed.”

Thomas shrugged. “Maybe it helped him to leave him in peace a bit.”

“Uh-huh,” Philipp said, and it was clear to see that he didn’t believe a single word Thomas said.

“And what do you have to say about this?” Mario interrupted and leaned pointedly into Thomas.

“I think it’s nice,” Philipp said. “I didn’t expect it really, but you two fit well together.”

Thomas smiled and squeezed Mario’s hand.

“Why didn’t you want to be with Mario at first?” Phil asked Thomas.

“It’s pretty complicated, as footballers and stuff. But… sometimes you can’t really avoid it.”

“It’s not that complicated,” Phil said. “You play for the same team, you’re close friends… it’ll barely be noticeable if you’re together more often now.”

“You don’t have to convince us anymore,” Mario grinned.

Phil laughed. “Well that’s good.”

Thomas also leaned a bit to the side. He wouldn’t kiss Mario right then, but a bit of contact was still nice.

“Very good, the both of you,” Philipp nodded.

Thomas laughed quietly. “It feels good too.”

“Yes well I hope so,” Phil laughed. “It probably feels a lot more than just good, judging from Mario’s blissful grin.”

Mario chuckled. “It’s just… wonderful.”

“Then I won’t disrupt you any longer,” Philipp smiled and stood up.

“We need to go downstairs soon…” Mario said.

Phil looked at his watch. “True. Do we want to go together now?”

Thomas nodded. “Can you maybe talk to Michi again… if he has difficulties?”

“Of course,” Philipp said.

“Thanks,” Mario smiled at him.

“No worries,” Phil declined. “And Michi’ll come round eventually. Right Thomas?”

“I hope so at least,” Thomas just said.

Phil looked at him for another minute. Thomas returned the gaze without saying anything. “I’m assuming I’ll get an explanation,” Philipp then said dryly.

“Of what?”

“Your action with Michi.”

Thomas shrugged. “There’s not an explanation, I’m just happy that he calmed down.”

“It would just interest me to know why he calmed down so fast.”

“Maybe because we were all so calm. And he wasn’t that shook up about it either.”

“If you say so,” Philipp said. “But I definitely don’t believe you completely.”

“How would you explain it then?”

“I don’t know, otherwise I wouldn’t have to ask you.”

Thomas shrugged. “I’m just happy that he calmed down.”

Philipp sighed. “Please not that again. But you’re not going to get away from me that easily my dear.”

“Let’s go eat, I’m hungry,” Mario interrupted them.


	31. Curiosity and Disgust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Translator note) There are some homophobic slurs in this chapter, just as a heads-up.

Thomas nodded and stood up. Together, they went into the dining room where they met up with Michi again. He was looking from Mario to Thomas a bit unsure.

“Come on, we’ll find a table. What’s for dinner?” Thomas spoke to him straight away.

“Pasta I think,” Michi answered and followed the three to a four-person table.

“We’ll go get something to eat. What do you want to drink?”

“Water,” Michi said.

“Philipp? O.J.?” Thomas asked, “Mario, coke?”

Mario and Philipp nodded. Thomas came back shortly thereafter with a few full glasses. And a bit later they were sitting with well-filled plates together eating silently.

The food was good, but there was an unusual atmosphere prevailing at their table. Michi’s uncertainty and Philipp’s wonderment about his behavior with it. Thomas could have cursed himself for being so obvious. They should have told them both alone, then it wouldn’t have happened. Michi, as the person being influenced, would never have noticed anything, but Philipp was just too attentive. Even now, Philipp was still looking at him curiously.

He would have prefered to influence him as well, but he’d taken it upon himself to only do that in an absolute emergency, and this wasn’t an emergency. Besides, he’d feel shabby influencing Philipp. Phil didn’t deserve that. So he could just hope that sometime Philipp would drop the topic. Otherwise… he would have a problem.

“Do you want dessert?” Mario asked him.

“Is there ice cream?” Philipp wanted to know.

“I think so,” Mario nodded. “But ice cream now? In this weather?”

“Ice cream’s always good!” Philipp maintained.

Mario shivered. “I’ll take pudding. Michi?”

“I’d also take pudding. Or is there tiramisu? They had it last year I think.”

“We’ll look,” Thomas said and stood up with Mario.

“What’ll we do with Phil?” Mario asked straight away.

“No idea,” Thomas muttered.

“Wait it out?”

“It’s the only thing that’s coming to me. In any event, I won’t influence him.”

Mario nodded, he hadn’t expected him to either.

“We’ll hope for the best,” Thomas said.

Mario nodded and filled up a plate of Tiramisu for Michi. Thomas took care of the ice cream for Philipp and spontaneously took a portion for himself too. Mario got some rice pudding, then he followed his boyfriend back to their table.

“Oh tiramisu,” Michi was happy. Mario smiled and put the bowl down in front of Michi. “Thanks,” Michi grinned.

Mario sat across from him and ate his rice pudding. Philipp and Thomas also turned to their dessert and again, silence reigned at the table.

“Do we want to do something else tonight?” Thomas asked when he was done with his ice cream.

“Wouldn’t you two rather be alone?” Philipp asked.

Thomas shrugged. “I don’t think the trainer would like that very much…”

Philipp grinned. “You’re right. So… poker or playstation?”

“Playstation,” Thomas decided immediately and then glanced at Michi. “Do you want to come along too?”

Michi hesitated then nodded. “Great,” Thomas smiled and stood up. “You coming?”

The three of them stood up and followed Thomas out of the dining room. At the reception, they checked out a playstation then they withdrew to Mario’s and Thomas’ room. “Well Thomas, you versus me?” Philipp asked him with a grin.

Immediately, Thomas nodded and took the controller. “You think you have a chance?”

“Yes I do,” Phil nodded.

“Well then,” Thomas grinned and started the game. Mario and Michi sat behind them on the bed. They watched both of them and sometimes cheered on Philipp, sometimes Thomas.

Eventually, It was in fact Phil who decided the match in his direction. Thomas leaned back, it was a hard-fought match and it had been a lot of fun. “And who of you wants to be the next to loose?” Phil asked.

“Me,” Michi answered immediately.

“Here,” Thomas grinned and handed Michi the controller. Soon, both of them were playing while Thomas sat down next to Mario on the bed. Mario shoved himself closer to Thomas and leaned on his shoulder. Thomas wrapped an arm around him and held him tightly.

Mario smiled immediately. It was nice to be able to sit like that with Mario watching Michi and Phil play. Especially when he hadn’t even counted on that anymore -- he had completely written Thomas off the last couple of weeks. And yesterday he’d only driven to Thomas’ because Michi had told him that Thomas had called in sick. It had been horrifying how bad Thomas was doing. Pale like a corpse, sunken cheeks, shaking… And still he’d resisted drinking from him.

Would have rather died than drink from him. He hadn’t know how else to help and that’s why he’d taken the knife out of the kitchen and cut himself. He had guessed that Thomas wouldn’t have been able to keep holding himself back but he hadn’t counted on such a hefty reaction. He also hadn’t counted on it coming out so well.

He had thought it would be uncomfortable, hurt, but for Thomas he would have beared it. But it hadn’t hurt. It had been good. Arousing. When Thomas had laid on him, held him down, drunk from him… “Cut it out,” Thomas whispered suddenly next to him.

“What?” Mario asked quietly.

“Your thoughts,” Thomas whispered. “If you don’t want to give these two here a show, think about something else.”

“What, are you reading my thoughts?” Mario asked, feigning outrage.

“Just your feelings. And those you practically offered to me, my dear,” Thomas defended himself.

“I was just thinking about it a little bit, you don’t have to crawl into it.”

“Sorry,” Thomas muttered. “But your feelings were really damn… tangible. Besides, your scent changes when you…”

“Oh,” Mario said quietly. Thomas nodded silently. “After,” Mario whispered.

“We have to be fit tomorrow,” Thomas shook his head.

“Hmm,” Mario just hummed and cuddled into his side. Thomas smiled and pressed a kiss on his forehead. Soon after, Michi and Philipp were finished and the next round was Michi playing against Mario.

“Don’t you want to tell me what was wrong before?” Philipp asked, sitting next to Thomas. Thomas just shook his head. “Why not?”

Thomas sighed. “Please just ignore it…”

“Must be a huge secret.”

“Please,” Thomas just said. “It’s nice that Michi’s accepting us.”

“It is,” Philipp nodded. “But I also know what Michi actually thinks about gays. That’s why it shocks me that he’s suddenly so laid-back about it.”

“Maybe it’s different because he knows us. You know like the people who badmouth Turkish people, but their neighbors are, you know, different…”

Philipp kept watching him skeptically.

“You can talk to him,” Thomas suggested, but hoped that Philipp wouldn’t do that. He didn’t know how that would affect his influence.

“I just don’t think I’ll get from him how you managed that,” Phil said.

Quietly, Thomas sighed. “Just be happy with us that he doesn’t have a problem with it. We… he’s a good friend, and we don’t want to lose him. Just like you.”

“Of course I’m very happy for you,” Phil said immediately. “And I would also be happy if Michi doesn’t have a problem with you. But I can’t believe that entirely yet.”

“Don’t make me afraid,” Thomas murmured. “I couldn’t bear it if he didn’t come to terms with it.”

Phil shrugged. “I really have no idea.”

“So… wait it out,” Thomas muttered and looked at Mario and Michi who were running a tight match.

Phil nodded. “It’ll be fine.” Thomas nodded, he was hoping that too. And he hoped that it would happen without further influence. “If you do decide you want to talk about it…” Philipp offered quietly.

“I know. And thanks for that,” Thomas nodded seriously.

“But you won’t do it,” Phil grinned wryly.

“I don’t think so,” Thomas admitted. “But it’s still a good feeling that I could. And who knows…”

Phil nodded. “I suppose I’ll have to live with that. By the way Michi’s clobbering your boyfriend.”

Thomas laughed quietly. “Then I’ll just comfort him afterwards!”

“I already knew that,” Phil grinned.

“I have to take care of him.”

“Of course,” Phil nodded. “Anything else would be cruel.”

For another minute, they watched the two players, until Michi finally raised his arms as the winner. Mario sighed deeply. “You’ve been practicing secretly, admit it.”

“I wouldn’t let myself be beat by a faggot,” Michi gazed at him cooly.

“Michi!” Phil said horrified and saw how Mario as well as Thomas cringed.

“Well it’s true…”

“It’s not. It’s horrific,’ Phil said shaking his head. “Mario’s still the same person.”

“Then he’s always been a fag.”

“Michi please,” Thomas said quietly.

“And you too!” Now the cold gaze hit Thomas too.

“And when? How long have we been friends Michi?”

“Too long, apparently!”

Thomas pressed his lips together and carefully penetrated Michi’s thoughts. He felt disgust and revulsion -- and anger. At him, at Mario -- and at himself for not showing his feelings earlier. So Philipp really had been right. Michael had something against gays.

Should he try to calm Michi a bit? But he would only make Philipp curious again doing so.

More and more feelings pelted down on him. A shudder, a wave of disgust and indignation. Eventually he couldn’t do anything else. He had to calm down Michi, otherwise they would have a much larger problem than a curious Philipp. First he calmed himself down, then he tried to hand over a portion of those feelings to Michi. Calm, friendliness, a smile. He let Michi sense his friendship, how much he and Mario meant to him. And gradually he felt Michi’s negative thoughts being shoved a little bit to the background.

He hadn’t even realized he had shut his eyes, and when he felt Phil’s hand on his arm, he opened them again. He still felt the calm inside of him which he’d handed over to Michi and looked at Phil just as calmly. Phil didn’t say anything, just looked at him.

Thomas shrugged then smiled at Philipp. Phil returned the smile slightly. A short moment, Thomas kept the eye contact, then he looked to Michi.


	32. Telepath

Michi was still sitting on the floor, but seemed much calmer and the disgust had also vanished from his face. Naturally, Thomas had suppressed it. For now. But unfortunately, it was to be feared that it would come back. Thomas couldn’t completely convince him and to let him forget everything, it was to late for that too. So they had to somehow make it clear to Michi that it wasn’t anything bad. At least his powers would help them with that, since he could keep calming him down.

“I think… I should go,” Michi murmured with a crooked smile. “It was a long day and my bed’s calling.”

“Sleep well,” Thomas wished.

Mario just nodded mutely while Michi threw a “good night you three” into the room and then left the room rapidly. The door had barely fallen shut behind him before Philipp was looking at him intensely again. “So, and now don’t tell me you didn’t do anything.”

“Just leave it,” Thomas asked with a sigh and looked at Mario. He had turned off the playstation and was now coming to them on their bed.

“You were practically in… a trance…” Philipp declared.

“Was I?” thomas asked.

“Now don’t act like that!”

“Please Phil,” Thomas asked again.

“What did you do?” Philipp asked again without ceremony.

“Pain in the ass,” Mario grumbled and scooted closer to Thomas.

“That’s nothing new. So?”

Thomas looked at Mario questioningly. Either he tried to make Phil forget everything now or… he told him the truth.

Mario hesitated, then he shrugged. It was Thomas’ decision.

“I’m waiting,” Philipp said.

“I… calmed him down,” Thomas muttered.

“I noticed that,” Philipp said dryly. Thomas just nodded. “And how?” Phil asked.

Thomas shrugged. “I don’t know. When…when I concentrate then I can… calm down other people.”

Phil raised one eyebrow. “Try again Thomas,” he shook his head.

Thomas shrugged. “What do you want to hear? Eenie Meenie Miney Moe, Michi calms down ready go, hocus pocus?”

“I want to hear the truth Thomas.”

“That was the truth. Ok not the hocus pocus. But when I concentrate then I can do that.”

“And why can you?” Phil asked.

Thomas shrugged. “I don’t know. I never got it checked out, they would have thrown me straight into some asylum!”

Phil leaned back. “So you want to tell me that one morning you woke up and… what exactly? Could read thoughts? Manipulate people?”

“Not just one morning. It sort of happened gradually -- but I could always do it. And it’s not thought-reading more… calming down a little. Influencing. But… not permanently, like you saw.”

“And that’s everything?”

Thomas laughed quietly. “Is that not enough for you?”

Phil shrugged. Thomas felt Mario cuddle against him slightly from behind. He wrapped an arm around Thomas’ stomach and rested his chin on his shoulder. “And Mario -- what’s it like being with a telepath?”

“It’s totally ok,” Mario grinned. “Very useful when you can’t fall asleep.” Philipp half-returned the grin.

“Everything ok?” Thomas asked him.

“That’s still not everything, I know that. But even still… it’s strange.”

“What do you mean that’s still not everything?” Thomas asked.

“Otherwise you wouldn’t have made such a big deal about it.”

“You think?” Thomas asked. “It’s not exactly everyday you run into someone who can do that.”

“You’re not the kind of person who’d hide it.”

“And what do you think Thomas is still hiding?” Mario asked.

“If I knew what it was, then I wouldn’t ask.”

“But you have to have a theory,” Mario said.

“You’re different than us. But… what that is, I don’t know,” Philipp thought. “So what is it?”

“Just be ok with the telepath answer,” Thomas suggested.

“Boring,” Philipp grinned sheepishly.

“I don’t think so,” Thomas said.

“I’ll work it out. Or… will you prevent me from doing it? Can you?”

“I don’t think I could with you,” Thomas muttered. “You’re way too stubborn. Besides, I don’t really like influencing my friends.”

“Then… do you do it often?”

Thomas shook his head quickly. “Only in emergencies.”

“When someone found out that you’re gay? Or… when else?”

Thomas shrugged. “Like Mario already said… I can help him fall asleep.”

“And that’s… very nice. You feel so warm and cared for and like you fell asleep yourself, even if you were brought to sleep by someone else.”

Thomas smiled when he heard that and stroked Mario’s hand lightly. Mario kissed the warm skin on his neck softly. Thomas let a small noise of delight out.

“I think I’ll leave the two of you alone,” Philipp grinned. “Don’t wear each other out.”

“We won’t,” Mario laughed.

“Then good night,” Philipp grinned.

“Night Phil,” Thomas smiled.

Philipp stood up, smiled at both of them briefly and then left the room.

“That went well, didn’t it?” Mario asked quietly.

Thomas hesitated. “He’ll keep on it, and I already told him too much.”

“But he’s taken it well so far.”

Thomas nodded. “So far…”

Mario sighed and pressed himself tighter against Thomas. “To bed?” Thomas asked.

“We’re already lying in it,” Mario grinned.

“We still have way too much on,” Thomas asked him to consider.

“True,” Mario nodded agreeing.

“And what’ll we do about it?”

“Undress?” Mario suggested and shoved a hand under Thomas’ shirt.

“Hmm,” Thomas hummed and smiled.

“Do you like that?” Mario asked.

“Hmm -- a lot,” Thomas smiled.

“Nice,” Mario whispered and stroked Thomas’ warm skin softly.

“Very nice,” Thomas smiled and turned around to face Mario to kiss him. Mario closed his eyes and returned the kiss. Thomas pulled him tightly to himself and began undressing Mario. Mario barely noticed losing his shirt and pants, he was so caught up in the kiss.

Thomas was also soon undressed to just boxers. Softly, Mario began stroking Thomas’ back and sides. “Let’s sleep,” Thomas whispered and pulled Mario tightly toward him.

Mario nodded and fished around for the blanket with one hand. Thomas cuddled into him and kissed him again sweetly. “Sleep well.”

“You too,” Mario whispered. He closed his eyes and was at peace very, very quickly. Thomas stayed awake another moment and watched Mario sleeping. Just as he had calmed Mario, Mario calmed him. And eventually, he also fell into a deep, sleep-like rest.


	33. A Piece of the Past

Right on time, like every morning, his eyes opened again. Mario was laying half on him, warm and heavy and snoring quietly. He smiled happily and brushed Mario’s shoulder lightly.

They still had a couple of minutes before they had to get up, so he let Mario sleep. It just felt good to be near him. And to feel how well he felt. Softly, he stroked Mario’s back and neck. He felt how good Mario felt.

A minute later, he sensed Mario slowly waking up. First only in his thoughts, then he moved slightly. “Hm,” Mario hummed. “Morning.”

“Morning,” Thomas whispered barely audibly. Smiling, Mario pressed a kiss on Thomas’ shoulder. He had slept remarkably well. He felt bright and refreshed, much better than when he usually woke up.

“Did you sleep well?” Thomas asked with a smile.

“Way better than usual. Is that because of you?”

Thomas shrugged. “Maybe a little.”

“Thanks,” Mario smiled and cuddled close to him.

“Any time,” Thomas said softly.

They wanted to stay lying like that, but much too soon, Thomas said, “We have to shower.”

“Pity,” Mario murmured and pushed himself tighter against Thomas’ warm body.

Thomas laughed. “Not cuddle, shower.”

“Cuddling is nicer,” Mario muttered, but then released himself from him.

“Just think about tomorrow, we have the whole afternoon and evening free,” Thomas smiled.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Mario said and stood up. Thomas propped himself up on one hand and followed Mario with his eyes. Mario was simply a beautiful man, but inside he was even more beautiful. And that beautiful man was now his boyfriend. Thomas had to smile, Mario loved him. He felt it every minute. Him, a vampire! That was just unbelievable. He never thought that someone would ever see anything in him but a monster.

But Mario didn’t see a monster in him. He didn’t push him away for drinking blood. On the contrary, he kept offering it to him. He shook his head. It was completely inconceivable. But he didn’t have to conceive it, just enjoy it. And that was… very easy. He smiled when he heard the water in the shower. He could feel Mario’s presence and… and the happiness he felt. Just pure carefree happiness over being together with him.

The happiness he felt brought a smile to his face, and he was still smiling when Mario came back into the room. “What is it?” Mario asked when he saw Thomas laying in bed like thta.

“You’re happy,” Thomas asid.

Mario chuckled. “Yes, very.”

“I know,” Thomas beamed at him.

“And you’re also happy?” Mario asked.

“Overjoyed,” Thomas nodded and tried to let Mario have a share of his feelings.

Mario eyes widened, then he beamed. “That.. wow!”

Thomas stood up and pulled Mario into his arms. He wasn’t bothered by the fact that Mario was only wearing pants and his torso was still slightly damp. He just wanted to hold him tightly and share the happy feeling he sensed.

Mario let his lips brush Thomas’ cheek. Then he whispered, “You need to shower too.” Thomas nodded, even if he didn’t sweat he enjoyed showering in the morning.

“I don’t want to let you go,” Mario whispered.

“You can again after,” Thomas promised.

“Do you think we’ll bring Michi around?” Mario asked, letting go of Thomas.

Quietly, Thomas sighed. “I hope so. But… it won’t be easy. It… wasn’t very nice what he felt.”

Mario smiled weakly. “Sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?”

“Because you only outed yourself to him because of me,” Mario said.

Thomas shook his head. “I might not have chosen him as the first, but he was one of my candidates too.”

Mario sighed. “I haven’t know Michi as long as you, but I never thought that he could have something against it.”

“Me neither. We should have asked Philipp first…”

“You’re always smarter in retrospect…” Mario smiled wryly.

“We’ll manage it somehow,” Thomas was hopeful.

Mario nodded. “And Phil’ll help us out with that.”

“Definitely,” Thomas nodded and kissed him shortly. Then he released himself from Mario and went to the bathroom. He didn’t need long to be standing next to Mario again in the room. He had gotten dressed in the meantime and was waiting for him.

At breakneck speed, Thomas got dressed and then looked at him. “Breakfast?”

“Sounds good,” Mario nodded and pulled Thomas outside by the hand.

Thomas laughed. “Someone’s hungry.”

“Yes I am,” Mario confirmed. In the hallway, Mario let Thomas’ hand go. Close to each other, they went into the dining room. They quickly found the table where Philipp was sitting and obviously waiting for them.

“Morning you two,” he greeted them with a smile.

“Morning,” Thomas smiled back.

“So, slept well?”

“I slept next to my boyfriend,” Mario smiled. “How could it be bad?”

“True love,” Phil laughed.

Mario beamed at him.

“And you?” Phil asked Thomas.

“What sort of question is that, do you think I could have slept badly next to Mario?”

“Well… Mario snores sometimes you know,” Phil grinned broadly.

“I can ignore it,” Thomas grinned.

“I’m telling you, you’re both head-over-heels,” Phil winked.

“We are,” Thomas grinned. “But… don’t say it to loud, ok?”

Phil nodded dead serious. “You can trust me, you know that right?”

“Yeah we know,” Thomas nodded just as seriously.

“Good,” Phil smiled.

“So, then let’s go get some food.” All three of them stood up and joined the line to the breakfast buffet. Shortly thereafter, they were sitting together comfortably eating breakfast, when Mario looked up suddenly -- at Michi who had just entered the room. Thomas also looked up and waited tensely for what Michi would do. Michi looked around, glanced at their table -- and then sat down next to Schweini. Mario sighed deeply.

“I’ll talk to him after again,” Philipp promised.

“Thanks,” Mario smiled.

“So, and now breakfast is getting eaten,” Philipp declared and began his muesli. Mario and Thomas also started eating. Still, Mario kept glancing at Michi who was staring absentmindedly into his muesli bowl. Eventually, Thomas rested his hand on Mario’s thigh.

Mario looked at Thomas, smiled slightly, and tried to block Michi out of his thoughts for the time-being. They ate their breakfast with more or less appetite. “Now come you two,” Phil said eventually. “Concentrate on the match. Dortmund’s a hard nut to crack and we need our strikers.”

“Especially on the bench,” Mario muttered.

“You’ll come in, score one or two goals, and then you won’t be on the bench anymore,” Phil said decisively.

Mario sighed quietly, if it were only that easy.

“It’ll get better Mario,” Thomas said. “They didn’t pay millions to put them on the bench.”

“Apparently they did…” Mario murmured.

“Think positive,” Phil said firmly. “You’ve survived an entirely different crisis already.”

Mario shrugged his shoulders unhappily. It just wasn’t an easy situation. Thomas laid his hand on Mario’s thigh again. For a small moment it calmed him, then he smiled at Thomas. Thomas returned the smile. “It’ll all be ok.”

Mario nodded, with a little bit of luck, everything would really be ok. “Listen to your boyfriend,” Phil nodded too. That made Mario smile slightly. “Good boy,” Phil laughed.

Thomas looked at his watch. “Ready for the walk?”

“Out into the cold,” Mario groaned. Thomas nodded, even though he barely felt the cold himself.

“See you in five minutes in the lobby?” Phil asked and stood up.

Thomas nodded. “See you soon.”

“Do we also want to go up?” Mario asked.

Thomas nodded. “We have to put on heavier clothes.” Mario stood up and threw a short glance to Michi who was now sitting alone at his table. He wanted to go to him, to talk to him and convince him -- but that was probably not a good idea.

“Give him time,” Thomas said quietly.

“He was… is a good friend…”

“And maybe he’ll be that again,” Thomas said. “But for that to happen we have to give him time to adjust to the new situation.”

“It’s hard…”

Thomas nodded. “I know.” Mario looked at him, Thomas sounded suddenly so serious. “Let’s go upstairs,” Thomas just said.

Mario nodded and followed him up. In their room, Thomas pulled Mario into his arms immediately. Mario cuddled up to him. It wasn’t about Michi anymore but… something else, Mario sensed that. He didn’t know if Thomas wanted to talk about it, so he stayed silent and just held his boyfriend tightly. Suddenly, he felt a wave of sadness.

 

“What is it?” he asked in hushed tones.

“I… I lost a bunch of my friends back then,” Thomas whispered just as quietly.

Mario gulped and pulled Thomas closer.

“It wasn’t like one day all of a sudden I had no friends, but after a few weeks all contact got broken off,” Thomas continued.

“Why?” Mario asked quietly.

It took a minute for Thomas to answer. “I changed. They… they didn’t recognize what I’d become anymore. And I was different than I am now. I didn’t have myself under control.”

“I’m sorry,” Mario whispered. He could barely imagine how hard that must have been for Thomas. Thomas held him pressed very tightly but didn’t say anything else.

Softly, Mario stroked Thomas’ back. “You have me now.”

Thomas gulped dryly and clung tightly to Mario.

“Everything’s ok,” Mario whispered and began spreading soft kisses on Thomas’ cheek and throat.

He felt Thomas relax in his arms. Mario smiled when he felt that. A moment longer, then Thomas let go of him again. “Thank you,” he whispered. Mario nodded and stroked Thomas’ cheek. For a moment, Thomas stayed standing, then freed himself from Mario. “Come on we have to go downstairs.”

“True,” Mario nodded.


	34. Dumb Nicknames

They put on their warm things quickly, then they went downstairs and joined the company of the rest of their team. Philipp kept them company, while Michi went to Basti and Andi. Mario glanced at Michi, then tried to distract himself. Phil seemed to notice that Mario could use distraction and began chatting. About his family, his racing horse, about Claudia and her siblings… Thomas was endlessly thankful to Philipp for that because not only Mario was calmed down by it. He could also relax a little bit.

It probably was connected, since it didn’t matter how much he tried to shut it out, he always was feeling what Mario was. It was one of the things he should ask Jakob about at the next opportunity. Would it always be like that or was it only happening right now since Mario’s blood was still so fresh inside him? And if so, how long would he be sharing Mario’s thoughts so intensely? His feelings?

“Thomas?” Mario asked and tipped towards him slightly.

“Hm?” he said.

“You were staring off into space.”

“I was thinking,” Thomas muttered.

“About what?” Mario asked.

“About you and me… so much has changed…”

Mario nodded. “But for the good, right?”

“Yeah… yes, of course. But I still have to come to terms with all of it first. It’s just different that I imagined it would be… if I even have imagined it.”

“What’s so different?” Mario asked.

“It’s… intenser, somehow. I never thought I’d be so… close to you.”

Mario smiled at him. “Then I won’t try to imagine it. It’s much more intense than usual.”

Thomas shook his head immediately. “We’re certainly not usual…”

“It would be boring otherwise,” Mario laughed.

Thomas shook his head grinning. “You’re crazy!”

“You already knew that though, right?”

“Yeah, otherwise you would have run away screaming weeks ago.”

Mario shook his head. “Why should I have?”

“Every normal person would have.”

“But I’m not every normal person,” Mario said. “And I know what I want. I know it in football and in my private life.”

“And now you want me. Despite all… risks and side effects,” Thomas grinned.

Mario nodded. “There’s always risks and side effects? What side effects?”

Thomas raised his eyebrows and tapped Mario on the neck. “Sudden spells of weakness for example.”

“I’ll tell you again, but I didn’t find it that bad,” Mario said and grinned filthily.

Thomas gulped when the feelings Mario had streamed to him unfiltered.

“Thomas?” Mario asked. “Everything ok?”

Thomas shook his head. “Think about something else please.”

“You’re… reading my feelings again?” Mario asked, rumpling his forehead.

“You’re forcing them on me,” Thomas tried to apologize. “They’re so clear… I can’t block them out.”

“Ok,” Mario grinned broadly again.

“Cut it out,” Thomas asked again as another wave of hot and aroused feelings stormed through him.

“Ok fine,” Mario winked and tried to force himself to think about something else.

Thomas felt calm and he succeeded pulling back from Mario’s feelings a bit. “Do you feel all my feelings so intensely?” Mario asked him after a while.

“No, no one else -- just you. And I don’t know if it’s all of your feelings or not. For everyone else I have to concentrate on their feelings to be able to read them -- and I don’t feel them as if they were my own.”

“Is it always like that when a… someone like you is with a normal person?” Mario asked quietly.

“I wanted to call Jakob about it,” Thomas said.

Mario nodded. “Good idea.”

“Straight after lunch?”

“Sure,” Mario said.

“Then come on, the others are already going back,” Thomas nodded to a group who was in front of them.

“Luckily,” Mario grinned. “I’m cold.”

“I can… make you hot,” Thomas grinned widely and tried to send Mario the according feelings.

Mario’s breath caught at those words. “But tell me that I should stop thinking about it,” he protested.

“Now you at least know how it’s like!”

“Bully,” Mario complained and nudged Thomas slightly. Thomas just laughed. “Revenge is sweet, my dear,” Mario warned him.

“Come on, you were cold. There’s lunch soon,” Thomas changed the subject. Mario nodded immediately and shoved his hands into his coat demonstratively. Thomas went in front and entered the hotel with Philipp. Mario was close behind Thomas.

First through the hotel lobby, then to the stairs and up them. “Lunch is in half an hour,” Phil grinned at the two of them. “So behave yourselves.”

“We’ll try,” Thomas grinned widely and opened their door.

Phil laughed loudly. “Sure you will.”

Thomas just nodded and pulled Mario into the room with him. The door fell shut behind them. Immediately, Mario pulled Thomas into him. He returned the hug, but didn’t do anything else. Mario pressed a gentle kiss onto Thomas’ mouth. “I would love to have more of that,” Thomas grinned. “But we have to go downstairs soon.”

“Phil said something about a half hour,” Mario said.

“Is that all you need? A half hour?”

“It’s enough for a bit of cuddling,” Mario nodded. “For everything else we have time this evening.”

Thomas nodded. “Ok.” He pulled Mario to the bed with him and sat down on the edge. Mario quickly took off his coat and cuddled into Thomas’ side.

“This is nice,” Thomas whispered.

“It is,” Mario nodded. They were both calm and languid, and Thomas didn’t know if he was influencing Mario, Mario him, them each other, or not at all.

“I could sit like this with you for hours,” Mario murmured.

“Hmm,” Thomas hummed lazily.

“But we have to go downstairs soon.” Thomas sighed quietly but didn’t moe.

“Thomas?” Mario asked.

“Hm?”

“Stand up,” he grinned.

“Hm-hm,” he said absentmindedly.

“You don’t have to eat anything, I know, but I’m hungry,” Mario tried.

“Hmm…” Thomas said and started moving slightly.

“Come on my little canoodle-vampire,” Mario grinned.

Quietly, Thomas hissed, then he laughed. “Canoodle-vampire’s good.”

“Do you not like the nickname?” Mario asked with a wink.

“No not really.”

“Hm, then I’ll think of something else,” Mario promised with a laugh.

“Do we have to -- with the nicknames?”

Mario pouted, then he shook his head laughing. “I just wanted to annoy you.”

“Then it’s ok,” Thomas grinned and kissed him quickly. “And now come.”

Mario nodded and stood up.

Thomas followed him and pulled him out of the room. Again, they let each other go in the hallway and went down to the dining room like good friends. Mario didn’t find it nice to have to cover it up, but Michi’s reaction had painfully shown him that not everyone would accept their relationship.

Maybe they could ask Philipp who else they could tell. Then they at least would have a small circle of friends who they could do things with together as a couple. And Philipp knew the team, knew how everyone ticked. In that regards, he would be the perfect captain -- even though he didn’t have the title which still described him perfectly.

Mario had known Philipp for a long time and knew he could trust him. Maybe he should have told him about himself earlier, but the opportunity had never presented itself. It had never really been part of the equation before. He hadn’t had a boyfriend, so it hadn’t been necessary to tell anyone anything.

“Philipp’s sitting in the back over there,” Thomas said in that moment and pointed at a table by the window. Mario nodded and followed his lead.

“I’m very proud of you,” Philipp grinned at them when they sat down.

“We don’t fall on top of each other like we’re starved -- I don’t know how things are with you, but we can control ourselves,” Thomas grinned.

“You don’t have to know everything,” Phil countered with a wink.

Thomas laughed quietly and began to fill up his plate.

“I wanted to try to talk with Michi again in the break this afternoon,” Phil told them.

“That’s nice of you,” Mario smiled at him.

“I hope I can achieve something.”

“If not, then we at least know where we’re at,” Thomas muttered.

Philipp sighed. “Sadly.”

Mario just nodded, he didn’t want to resign himself to possibly having lost a friend. “Come on eat something,” Thomas said softly. Mario didn’t make any motions to eat something, so Thomas eventually filled up his plate.

“Thomas is right,” Phil said. “Starting a hunger strike now won’t help anything.” Mario nodded not entirely convinced and began eating. And Thomas and Phil also turned back to their plates.


	35. An Unsuccessful Attempt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick translator warning again for homophobia in this chapter. :)

Eventually, they had eaten their fill and stood up. Mario and Thomas wanted to withdraw to their room, while Philipp sat down next to Michi. “The casserole was good, wasn’t it?” Philipp started a harmless conversation.

“Hm,” Michi just grunted. “What do you want?”

“You ate here alone,” Phil shrugged. Michi grumbled something. “Such a bad mood?” Phil asked carefully.

“Yes, damn it,” Michi huffed.

“Why?”

“I trusted him, you know that? We’ve even shared a room together! And now?!?”

“And now what?” Phil asked. “What are you afraid of?”

“Afraid? It’s perverted!”

Phil looked around, but luckily the tables around them were empty. “It’s not perverted. They’re both so happy together.”

“Then it’s ok? Just because they’re both ‘happy’?”

Philipp nodded. “They’re not breaking any law, Michi. They’re in love.”

“Just because it’s not punishable by law? Ugh, it’s disgusting. Disgusting, like if an 80-year-old was with a 20-year old.”

“You’re exaggerating now,” Phil shook his head.

“I am not, it’s just plain disgusting!”

“But they’re your friends Michi. Why don’t you try to get used to it?”

“Get used to it? But then it’ll come to me joining in afterwards!”

“No one said anything about joining in,” Philipp said. “And talk a bit quieter. Or better still, let’s go upstairs.”

Michi shook his head immediately.

“Why not?” Phil asked astonished. “Do you also want nothing more to do with me now?”

“I want nothing to do with this,” Michi explained.

“Then you’re just throwing the friendship away?”

“What sort of friendship? One in which I was lied to?”

“Lied? Isn’t that a bit harsh?” Phil asked. “Both of them were single and didn’t have any reason to talk about it. And now at the first opportunity, they told you.”

Michi just looked at him, then he stood up and left. Phil sighed and shook his head, then stood up as well. He didn’t follow Michi, going to his own room instead. Michi would only switch on his stubbornness and maybe he’d use the peace to think about it. And if not, then he’d hope that he’d calm down after a couple of days. And otherwise… maybe Thomas should kick in his strange powers.

They didn’t seem to help for long, but maybe it would suffice if he used it in a conversation. Phil nodded. He would suggest that to Thomas afterwards. And maybe he could even convince him then to tell him a bit more about that talent. He went into his room and laid down a bit on the bed. iPod, book -- his usual preparations for a match. But he was still thinking over and over about Thomas. It was very strange…

He really seemed to be able to influence people. He had never experienced something like that before, at best he’d read it in a book or seen it in a movie. And he’d always considered it to be rather far-fetched then. But now he’d seen himself that… that Thomas could do something like that. What else could he do?

Influence feelings? Read thoughts? Move things just with his thoughts? Phil shook his head. That couldn’t really be, right? There wasn’t anything like that in reality. On the other hand, it was rather impressive what Thomas had done. Was that something you could learn or were you born with it? And if you could learn it -- how? Or… if you were born with it -- how do you notice? In preschool?

With that thought, Phil had to grin. He imagined little Thomas convincing another kid to give him a toy car with the help of his powers. Beaming, the child in his fantasy handed the three- or four-year-old Thomas the car and was happy about it. And then later… had Thomas influenced his teacher to give him a good grade? Or if he had forgotten his homework, could he convince them that he’d already handed it in?

In sport, in football -- had he influenced the coaches -- and referees? Immediately he shook his head. He didn’t believe that. Thomas was far too fair of a sportsman to do that. On the other hand, if you had the opportunity -- it must be hard to hold back. Would he do that if he were in Thomas’ position? Influence referees or make sure that the trainer put him in the line-up? And even if he didn’t do it -- what if the referee made a wrong decision?

Phil shook his head again and tried to shove the thoughts out of his brain. Thomas was a nice guy, he wouldn’t do something like that. Besides, referees had decided against him in Philipp’s presence -- and not always correctly. Sighing, he shut his eyes and tried to concentrate on the forthcoming match against Dortmund. Which players were starting, who would play on his side, how he would play against him… He dozed a little before his alarm clock reminded him that he needed to be off.

Quickly, he packed his things and left the room. On the way downstairs, he passed Thomas and Mario. In the spur of the moment, he knocked on the door. It took a while before a completely disheveled Mario appeared at the door. Phil grinned broadly. “Am I interrupting?”

“Just a little,” Mario murmured and flushed slightly. Then he turned around, behind him, and looked at the bed. “Stop it!”

Phil heard Thomas laugh. “What did he do?” he asked Mario curious.

“Nothing,” Mario muttered and turned around again. “That too!”

“Oh come on,” Phil said. “Tell me.”

“Dumb thoughts,” Mario muttered.

“Not dumb at all,” Thomas called.

“But not what I need right now. And you neither, my dear!”

“Party pooper,” Thomas grumbled and stood up as well.

“What was that?” Philipp asked and closed the door behind him.

“Nothing at all,” Thomas said while he straightened his shirt out.

“Then why was Mario grumpy at you?”

“Tell us about your conversation with Michi instead,” Mario said.

Philipp shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t get very far, then he stood up.”

“Shit,” Mario cursed under his breath.

Philipp nodded. “I’ll try again in a couple of days. Maybe you can help me with it Thomas.”

“What did you picture?” Thomas asked.

Philipp looked at him serious. “He barely listened to me. He feels lied to because what you’re doing is wrong. He’s completely caught up in his own prejudices. I don’t know what all you can do but…”

“I can’t force him to forget his own prejudice,” Thomas shook his head.

“And make it clear to him that you’re… different? Different than what he thinks?”

Thomas shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way. If Michi resists it fully then I can’t do anything at all.”

Philipp sighed theatrically. “You have such weird powers and they don’t even help!”

Thomas shrugged and grinned sheepishly. “Come on we have to go. We can discuss it again after the match,” Mario interrupted them. He pushed Thomas’ bag into his hands and left the room.

Quickly, Philipp and Thomas followed him. The bus was already waiting for them down in front of the hotel, and a bit later they drove off. The drive was relatively calm and concentrated. Hardly anyone spoke and they entered the stadium similarly focused. Locker room, speech, warm-up, back, out together -- and then the match started.

Mario was just sitting on the bench, but Thomas was starting. Mario watched him very closely. Even in the previous matches, he’d registered every single movement and was impressed that you really didn’t see that Thomas -- for his standards -- was moving in slow motion. He seemed focused and engaged, but he only had to strain himself to not move too quickly or knock an opponent off his feet too hard.

If he hadn’t constantly slowed himself down, the opposing team would have no chance. But at halftime it was only 0:0. Mario warmed up intensely during the break so he didn’t have a chance to talk to Thomas. Besides, he was trying not to think about him, to not break his concentration.

He was still astonished that Thomas reacted to him so closely. They hadn’t called Jakob during the afternoon break, rather they wanted to call him in the evening in peace. But even still, they… had made good use of the break. He smiled, then he distracted himself immediately. He shouldn’t upset or distract Thomas.

Luckily, the co-trainer gave him a signal then and he ran to the bench while the players slowly went back onto the pitch. He watched the players run their course until he was substituted in in the 75th minute for Miro. Minutes, he thought grinding his teeth, while he high-fived Miro. And in those minutes, he couldn’t accomplish anything either, so that they eventually had to be served the draw from the first half.

He saw Thomas run to Mats and Marcel and greet them both. Mats plucked at Thomas’ jersey demandingly, who immediately nodded. Quickly, Mario turned away. Seeing his boyfriend now without a jersey wasn’t necessary. It was already hard not to stare under the showers.


	36. Sebastian

Soon he was in fact distracted, when Sebastian came over to him and gave him a quick hug. “You were good,” he grinned at Sebastian.

He laughed happily. “Or you were too bad to win!”

Mario snorted. “You’d like that. We were just too nice to you and took it easy on you.”

“Well then, sorry that I misevaluated you. I always thought you want to win!”

“Idiot,” Mario said and pointed at Basti’s jersey. “Trade? If you even want one from a benchwarmer.”

“What do you mean benchwarmer,” Sebastian shook his head and quickly pulled off his jersey. “You played well, even if it wasn’t very long.”

Mario also pulled his jersey over his head. “Thanks, but I’m not satisfied.”

“You’ll get there,” Sebastian was confident.

“Hopefully,” Mario smiled and gave Sebastian his jersey.

“Always keep your sights forward, that helps.”

Mario’s gaze roved to Thomas quickly who was still standing near Mats. Then he nodded to Sebastian, “I do.”

“Then that’s good. When are you flying back?”

“This evening,” Mario said.

“Do you still have time for a coffee or something?”

“Of course,” Mario nodded immediately.

“Then why don’t we meet up in the mixed-zone? I’m cold, I want to go shower quickly.”

Mario laughed. “Me too. Then… in a half hour?”

“Sounds good -- see you soon,” Sebastian said and made his way into the catacombs.

Mario threw Sebastian’s jersey over his shoulder and headed after him slowly. He didn’t see Thomas again until he was in the locker room. Immediately, a smile spread across his lips. His boyfriend, just unbelievable. When his boyfriend looked up, he had a similar smile on his lips as Mario. “Hey,” Mario said and went to him.

“Hey,” Thomas smiled at him.

“You were good,” Mario said.

“You too, and you didn’t have to trick your way in.”

“You didn’t either,” Mario said immediately. “And I was on the pitch far too little to be good.”

“At least you weren’t bad,” Thomas asid.

“Thanks,” Mario smiled and brushed Thomas’ arm. “By the way, basti invited me for a coffee after.”

“Nice,” Thomas smiled.

Mario nodded. “I like Sebastian. He’s such a comfortable calm person.”

“Then I hope you have a good time.”

“I… wanted to ask if you wanted to come along, but Sebastian would think that was weird, wouldn’t he?” Mario asked.

“You’ve known each other for a while, you two should go alone,” Thomas said. “I’ll get you back soon enough.”

Mario laughed quietly. “Ok. But next time you’ll come along.”

“If you think he’d be ok with it?”

“Honestly, I have no idea. And I can hardly innocuously ask him without him suspecting something,” Mario shrugged.

“And I can’t… look in. I can’t always feel something, and even when I can then only… what’s present. The current feelings.”

“Then we’ll consider it later in peace,” Mario said. “And I need to shower now, otherwise Basti’ll have to wait too long for me.”

“Then hurry up, I need to too…”

Mario nodded. Quickly, he got undressed and grabbed his shower things, then vanished under the shower. He only rinsed off quickly, then he got dressed again. Thomas was still sitting in the locker room keeping himself busy. As soon as Mario entered the room though, he stood up and entered the shower himself. He nodded at Mario quickly, who felt a small tingle and a comfortable feeling.

Smiling, Mario began to get dressed. It had been a nice greeting from Thomas, kind of like a goodbye kiss, just not quite so obvious. Thomas as a vampire with such capabilities also had its advantages. It didn’t take long, and before Thomas came out of the shower, Mario left the locker room. Sebastian was giving an interview, and Mario held back in the background.

Eventually, Sebastian could get away and went to Mario. “Let’s go before someone else shows up and asks more tense questions.”

“Oh, I can do that too. ‘Mr. Kehl -- you drew today. Is that a win or a loss?” Sebastian groaned and pulled Mario along by the arm. “Not good?” Mario asked, but held back from asking more questions.

“I just want to save you from sinking to their level,” Sebastian said.

“Thank you, that’s very kind,” Mario grinned.

“I am,” Sebastian laughed.

Mario laughed. “And? Where to?”

“There’s a nice cafe nearby,” Sebastian said.

“Then let’s go there. I have to be back here in an hour and a half.”

Sebastian nodded and led Mario out of the stadium and outside. It was in fact not far to the nearest cafe which Sebastian led them into. He seemed to have been there often, since one of the waiters immediately smiled at him and said, “Your table in the back just opened up.”

“Thank you,” Sebastian smiled at him and led Mario towards the back. “Coffee? Hot chocolate? Tea? They have a good apple pie here.”

“Tea and apple pie,” Mario nodded immediately. When the waiter came to their table a moment later, Sebastian ordered two teas and two pieces of apple pie.

“It’s nice here,” Mario said. “Comfortable.”

“I used to come here with Metze all the time,” Sebastian said. “And whenever he comes by, it’s always a must.”

“How is Chris?” Mario asked.

“Not great. Ok, his complaining’s up to scratch but he didn’t go to Madrid to watch matches from the stands. He could have gotten a season ticket to do that in a couple years.”

“It’s always shitty when things don’t go well after a transfer,” Mario nodded.

“I know -- you’re talking from experience.”

Mario shrugged. “It’s just difficult. The coach didn’t want me, I just got dealt bad cards.”

“It happens a lot. Things weren’t that different for Timo either.”

“Don’t encourage me,” Mario grinned weakly.

“With your next coach, everything’ll be different,” Sebastian was sure.

“The question’s just when he’s coming.”

“True. And then -- new game, new luck.”

“Maybe some kind of miracle’ll happen and I’ll get a chance,” Mario said.

“You don’t need a miracle for that,” Sebastian was sure. “The system’s a little bit against you right now, but the next coach will play different.”

“That’s nice of you,” Mario smiled.

“It’s not nice, it’s the truth.”

Mario shrugged.

“Oh come on, don’t be so pessimistic. You looked happier before!”

“That’s true,” Mario nodded. “I’m just not used to sitting on the bench.”

“You don’t get used to it -- on the bench or in the stands,” Basti muttered.

“It’s not exactly my goal for the next few years. I want to go to South Africa next year.”

Basti grinned. “And not just in the stands? Don’t worry, your spot in the squad’s pretty fixed.” Mario nodded. He was still in the squad. “So no panicking.”

“Let’s talk about something nice,” Mario asked smiling. “How are you doing? It’s been awhile since we talked to each other.”

“Well, I can finally play again now,” Sebastian said happily. “The long time out really sucked.”

“I can imagine,” Mario nodded.

“But it was… bearable. Tina and Luis helped keep my spirits up.”

“How are they?” Mario asked immediately.

“Good, even though Luis is in a bit of a defiant mode right now. But it’s pretty normal in his age.”

“He does have a pretty stubborn papa,” Mario grinned.

Basti laughed quietly. “Yes, apparently. But it’s ok like this -- a kid that always sits obediently in the corner’s also not normal.”

“That’s true,” Mario nodded.

“And what’s it like with you? Have you done anything in your life?”

Mario shrugged, but he couldn’t suppress a smile.

“Hm? That looks better that last time,” Sebastian noticed.

“You think?” Mario asked with a grin.

“Yes -- tell me.”

“It’s… still pretty new,” Mario said quietly.

“I can see that -- you’re practically beaming.”

“Really?” Mario asked and felt the broad smile.

“Now tell me,” Basti ordered him curious.

“We’ve… known each other for a while, and since I moved to Munich, we’ve been good friends,” Mario said harmlessly. “And yeah… in the last couple of weeks it just sort of happened and we’ve been together for the past two days.”

“That sounds… very nice. You were so crushed after your last relationship and -- how long has it been now? An eternity…”

Mario nodded. “I needed a while.”

“A somewhat long while,” Basti nodded, but was distracted then by the waiter who brought the tea and pie.

“It looks good,” Mario said impressed.

“It tastes good too,” Basti nodded enthusiastically and began eating.

Mario also dug into his piece of pie starving. “So, and now tell me more,” Sebastian ordered him after the biggest hunger had been quelled.

“About what?” Mario asked.

“Well, from your new crush!”

Mario shrugged. “It’s… wonderful when we’re together. It’s all tingly and I’m incredibly happy.”

“I see that,” Sebastian smiled. “I wanted this so much for you, and now it seems like it actually worked. Will I get to meet her?”

“We’ll see what comes up,” Mario mumbled and drank a gulp of tea.

“Hm -- you don’t seem so enthusiastic… Don’t worry, I know that you’re pretty newly coupled, but I’m still curious. Do you have a photo of her?”

Mario sighed inwardly. He had been afraid of questions exactly like that. “I don’t have one here,” he said shaking his head feeling very bad about the lie.

“Darn… then send me one when you get the chance, ok?”

Mario nodded. “Will do.” He felt uncomfortable with the promise but… what else was he supposed to do?

“Everything ok?” Basti asked.

“Yeah, of course,” Mario shrugged. “Should something be wrong?”

“You’re just so… thoughtful.”

“It’s ok…”

“If you say so,” Basti nodded.

“What’s up with you lot?” Mario tried to distract him. Basti looked at him for a minute, then went with Mario’s attempted distraction. He told him about his small family, his club, Metze, who he’d telephoned the previous evening, until Mario looked at his watch.

“Do we have to go already?” Basti asked.

“Sadly,” Mario nodded. “The bus is leaving in five minutes.”

“Shame,” Basti said. “Well hurry off. Otherwise you’ll get in trouble with your coach.”

Mario nodded. “And I really could do without that.”

Basti smiled wryly. “Then hopefully soon,” he said and stood up to hug Mario goodbye. Mario returned the hug with a smile.

“I hope you have a good trip back,” Basti murmured.

“You too -- even though you don’t have so far. And hopefully we’ll see each other soon again, and longer.”

Basti nodded. “And bring your girlfriend.”

Mario had to swallow again. “We’ll see if anything comes of it…”

Basti nodded. “It will.”

“Well, see you soon,” Mario said finally and left the cafe.


	37. On Feelings and Inhibitions

Outside it had gotten even colder, so Mario stepped on it to get to the bus quickly. Luckily, he wasn’t the last one, but shortly after he arrived, the bus headed off. “Well, how was your meetup?” Thomas asked, when Mario sat down next to him.

“Nice. But…” he sighed quietly. “Somehow we got to the topic ‘girlfriend’ and… that was a bit dumb.”

Thomas nodded slightly. “What… did you tell him?”

“Prospect of a new girlfriend,” Mario said.

Thomas sighed. “Stupid lying.”

“What else was I supposed to say?” Mario asked.

“No, you did the right thing,” Thomas shook his head. “After everything with Michi… we have to thoroughly consider who we tell about us.”

“Did Michi do anything else?” Mario wanted to know.

“Other than acting like I don’t exist?”

“Better than most other reactions,” Mario muttered.

“Still hurts,” Thomas said.

Mario sighed quietly and reached for Thomas’ hand. Immediately, a smile spread across Thomas’ lips. He felt Mario’s feelings even without the contact, but it was even more intense with the touch.

Somewhat worn out from the match, he leaned back and closed his eyes. He was calm, very calm -- calmer than he had ever been after a match. Thanks to Mario, he knew that. It was unbelievable how close they were, he had never thought that Mario could also influence him. He was still holding Mario’s hand and squeezed it tightly. A warm feeling flooded through Thomas and brought him to smile slightly.

“Nice,” Mario whispered, barely audibly.

“Hmm,” Thomas said and relaxed more. It felt so incredibly good. Mario glanced around, then leaned against Thomas’ shoulder and closed his eyes. The others would think he was tired. He slowly fell asleep, enveloped by his boyfriend’s warming thoughts.

“Mario,” Thomas’ voice forced itself through to him after a while.

“Hm?” Mario said quietly.

“We’re at the airport,” Thomas whispered.

“Darn,” Mario muttered and straightened up.

“You can sleep more in the airplane,” Thomas promised.

“Hmm,” Mario hummed and squeezed his hand once more, then let go and followed Thomas out of the bus.

The charter airplane was already prepared so it didn’t take too long for them before they had all checked in and were sitting in the airplane. Again, Thomas and Mario sat next to each other, and with Thomas’ help, Mario fell asleep quickly. He didn’t sleep himself, enjoying the peace instead that flooded him from Mario even in sleep.

As such, he was sad when he had to wake Mario up about an hour later. Yawning, Mario straightened up and followed Thomas out of the airplane. He was already looking forward to his comfortable bed. Cuddled up close to Thomas under the warm blanket… Thomas hurried to drive them back home, to his own apartment, and quickly he led Mario up the stairs.

“We… wanted to call Jakob,” Mario mumbled.

“Then wake up a bit,” Thomas grinned and pushed him into the living room.

Mario yawned and rubbed his eyes. “I’m completely awake.”

Thomas smiled. “You can’t lie to me in this regard. Do you want a coffee?”

Mario nodded immediately and sat down on the sofa. Thomas made the promised coffee and sat down next to him. Even before he drank the first gulp, Mario felt more awake. Still, he cuddled into Thomas’ shoulder again immediately.

“Come on, wake up a bit and then I’ll call him.” Mario nodded and drank another gulp of coffee. He felt himself waking up, whether it was the coffee or Thomas’ influence he didn’t know.

Eventually, Thomas nodded and grabbed his telephone. He dialed Jakob’s number and put it on speaker so Mario could hear it to. “Thomas, little one -- what’s going on?”

“Mario and I have a couple of questions,” Thomas said with a smile.

“Both of you?” Jakob asked.

“Yes, Mario’s here and is listening in.”

“Hello Mario, it’s nice to finally meet you,” Jakob greeted him.

“Hey,” Mario said a bit unsure.

“So, how can I help you? Or should I come by?”

“When could you get here?” Thomas asked.

Jakob considered. “I should be able to manage half an hour.”

Thomas looked at Mario questioningly. He nodded, still unsure, but firmly. “Mario’s nodding,” Thomas smiled. “It’s probably much simpler if you come over.”

“Then, see you soon,” Jakob said and hung up.

“He seems to be a really good friend,” Mario said.

“He is. He’s always there for me when I have questions. And otherwise.”

Mario smiled. He was happy that Thomas had someone on his side. Then he had at least been not entirely alone the past years.

“Come here,” Thomas wrapped an arm around him. Immediately, Mario cuddled up to Thomas. “No sleeping,” Thomas grinned, and Mario felt himself becoming suddenly more awake.

Mario laughed. “Good, but then I want a kiss from you.” A quiet laugh and a tender kiss were the answers. Mario wrapped an arm around Thomas’ neck when he returned the kiss. Mario concentrated on keeping the kiss light, they were expecting a visitor. But it was hard. Thomas tasted so sweet, so enticing.

Eventually, Thomas did actually free himself from him. “Do you want to eat something before Jakob comes? He… doesn’t really think much of human nutrition.”

Mario thought about it, then nodded. “Something small. I did have a piece of cake with Basti already.”

“Noodles? I have some sort of sauce around.” Mario nodded. “Ok, it’ll be out in a couple of minutes,” Thomas promised and had already vanished.

Mario looked after him, then pulled the blanket towards him and cuddled into it. Less than ten minutes later, Thomas came back to the living room with a plate full of spaghetti and tomato sauce. “Are you not eating?” Mario asked.

Thomas shook his head. “Not today, ok?” Mario nodded and took the plate. What Thomas had just whipped up tasted very good, and Mario ate enthusiastically. Thomas watch him with a smile while eating. Eventually, Mario set the plate on the table. “That was delicious.”

“Good,” Thomas smiled and cleared the plate at breakneck speed. And Thomas was back just as quick with a bottle of water and a glass. Gratefully, Mario took both from him and drank thirstily.

A ring made them both look up. “He’s ringing, that’s really rare,” Thomas grinned and stood up.

“How else would he get in? Does he have a key?”

Thomas shook his head. “Jakob gets in anywhere he wants to.”

“That’s kinda creepy,” Mario murmured and sat back down involuntarily.

“You don’t have to be afraid,” Thomas said and went to the door. Mario nodded, even though he really wasn’t that at ease at that moment. A bit later, Thomas came back into the room with Jakob in tow and Mario found an elegantly clothed man in his mid-forties across from himself.

“Hello Mario,” Jakob said with a smile.

“Hello,” Mario stood up and offered Jakob his hand.

Jakob took it and shook it firmly. Then they sat. “Nice to meet you,” Jakob smiled at him.

Mario nodded slightly nervously and was happy that Thomas sat down very close to him again. He suddenly felt more calm. He looked at Thomas thankfully and grabbed his hand involuntarily.

“So, what are your questions?” Jakob wanted to know after a minute.

“There’s a few,” Thomas grinned. “I… since I… drank Mario’s blood, I basically constantly feel his feelings. Whether I consciously want to or not.”

Astonished, Jakob looked at him, then his gaze roved to Mario. “And -- you can also feel him?”

Mario nodded. “It… wasn’t obvious to me at first, but I can feel when he’s uneasy and then… I try to calm him down.”

Jakob shook his head slightly. “Vampires are all different, even more so than humans,” he explained to Mario. “But I’ve never heard of something like that.”

Thomas suppressed a sigh. That was exactly the answer he hadn’t wanted to hear. “But fundamentally it’s nice, isn’t it? To feel each other so intensely?”

“It is,” Mario said immediately and Thomas nodded.

“Then I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Just means that you two can’t lie to each other -- and it could be a problem with Christmas presents,” Jakob grinned.

Thomas laughed loudly. “We’ll figure things out with gifts.”

“Then it’s all good,” Jakob nodded amusedly. “Otherwise I wouldn’t think about it much. It’s rather unusual, but actually it seems to speak for you two.”

Thomas smiled and squeezed Mario’s hand tighter. “I also have a question,” Mario said.

“Yes?” Jakob nodded.

“Do you think that Thomas can go without my blood?” Mario asked bluntly.

Jakob hesitated, then he shook his head. “There are vampires who need human blood. It’s also not unusual that animal blood suddenly stops sufficing, even for a vampire who lived off of it for a long time. And when it comes to your blood… He won’t want anything else.”

Mario nodded satisfied and looked at Thomas. Both other guys as well as the stupid idea of continuing to drink out of the cans was now out of the running. But Thomas still seemed to be not convinced by it. “I almost killed you!”

“No you didn’t,” Mario insisted on his point of view. “You stopped in time and you’ll do it next time too.”

“I stopped because you just barely had enough strength left to warn me.”

“You never would have killed me,” Mario said firmly.

“You don’t know that!”

“But I trust you.”

“We’ve discussed this before -- I don’t trust myself.”

Mario looked at Jakob. “What do you have to say about this?”

“Like I said, all vampires are different. But up to now, every one has had an inhibition from doing his partner serious harm. I’m sure that it’s not any different for you Thomas. You love Mario, and now you can sense what he feels even better. Do you really think you wouldn’t feel if you went too far?”

Thomas hesitated. Jakob was probably not entirely wrong, but there still was a risk and he couldn’t take it.

“What are the alternatives?” Jakob demanded from him.

“I’ll try animal blood,” Thomas answered stubbornly.

“Yeah, good luck… how many cans a day was it? Will you still have enough time for training?” Jakob asked.

“Why are you so stubborn?” Mario muttered, shaking his head.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Thomas explained seriously.

“And you won’t,” Mario answered just as seriously.

Jakob nodded in support. “I’m also very confident of that. You feel him. You’ll also feel if he’s not doing well -- and it won’t taste good anymore. And you’ll feel too… weak yourself. So intense as your connection is…”

“You hear,” Mario said and looked at Thomas softly. “You can’t hurt me.”

Thomas shrugged. “And what if I do? I couldn’t live with that.” Mario sighed. He could feel how scared Thomas was and could also understand it to a certain extent.

“We won’t wait so long until you’re starving. The second time… was completely danger-free.”

“I also didn’t drink the second time,” Thomas murmured.

“Just took a little… nibble?” Jakob smiled. Mario felt a slight flush creeping into his cheeks. Jakob seemed to know in exactly which situation the second bite had arisen.

Thomas was also a bit uncomfortable, obviously strengthened by Mario’s reaction. “Something like that,” he murmured.

“You don’t have to be uncomfortable about this,” Jakob said and leaned back into his armchair. “It would have shocked me more if it hadn’t happened. So close as you are.”

Mario nodded a bit embarrassed. “I think that Mario’s suggestion is a good one,” Jakob said to Thomas. “If you drink regularly, you won’t need such large amounts.”

“But… how often is ‘regularly’?” Thomas asked. “And how much is ‘not such large amounts’? Mario needs every drop of blood if he wants to play well. After all, there is something called own-blood-doping.”

“I can’t give you a magic answer,” Jakob said regretfully. “You have to figure it out yourselves.”

“We’ll manage,” Mario was certain. “At least as long as you, my dear, don’t constantly fight against it.”

Thomas grumbled something incomprehensible. He wasn’t happy with that and he was still afraid for Mario. “We’ll try it on a matchday, ok? Then at least the next day there’s just regeneration, and then it’s not so bad if I’m not feeling one hundred percent.”

Resigned, Thomas nodded. “Ok. We’ll try that.”

“Good,” Mario smiled and leaned into him. Thomas felt that he was really… relieved.

Jakob nodded satisfied. “More questions from you two?”

“Many, but Thomas can surely answer most of them,” Mario said.

“And if not, I’m only a phonecall away,” Jakob nodded.

“I’m very grateful for that,” Thomas said. “You’ve always helped me a lot, even though you didn’t change me.”

Jakob shrugged. “We’re all somewhat similar in many regards, that’s why it doesn’t matter to me if I changed you or not.”

He stood up. “I’ll just -- you two need your time together.”

“Thank you for coming,” Mario said and smiled at Jakob.

“Any time,” Jakob returned the smile. “I’ll see myself out.” Mario could barely follow how fast Jakob disappeared out the room, and the door fell shut at almost the same moment.


	38. An Attempt

“So that was Jakob,” he said.

Thomas nodded. “I don’t know what I would have done without him. Or would do.”

Mario smiled. He could relate strongly to that feeling.

“My transformation… was more of an accident, Jakob thinks. Usually the older fills the new one in on everything. Is something like a… father for him. But my creator vanished straight away -- maybe he just wanted to drink from me and kill me, and I defended myself -- and bit him.”

Mario nodded slowly. “But you said the blood of a second person was required to change someone.”

“I was apparently not the first he had bit that night,” Thomas shrugged.

“Then… he hadn’t just been hunting because he was hungry,” Mario guessed.

Thomas hesitated briefly, then nodded. “There are vampires… who don’t stick to the rules. Who fall into a sort of blood-lust and give into it.”

Mario gulped slightly. “Could that happen to you too?”

“I’m at least afraid of that, and that’s why I don’t want to bite you.”

Mario nodded. That was actually a reason he could fully understand. “I don’t think that will happen to you.”

“You wouldn’t have any chance to protect yourself…”

“Do you really think you could hurt me?” Mario asked and rested a hand on Thomas’ neck.

He felt Thomas slowly relax. “I don’t think so, but I just don’t know. And I’m afraid of it.”

“Then let’s try it,” Mario said quietly and slid closer to Thomas. “We only have regeneration training tomorrow. And you’re still… full. The perfect timing.”

With his words and closeness, he also thought about the last time that Thomas had bitten him. How he had laid so unendingly aroused beneath him. He looked deep into Thomas’ eyes and then pushed himself slowly onto Thomas’ lap. Then he tipped his head a bit to the side. Thomas gasped involuntarily and laid his arms around Mario.

Mario pressed himself against Thomas. “Do it,” he whispered roughly. Thomas felt how hard Mario already was just with the thought, and he himself wasn’t very cool. “Thomas,” Mario whispered again and moved slightly on Thomas’ lap.

He felt Thomas trying hard to hold himself back. “Why are you waiting? You want it too.”

“I want it so badly… Mario…,” Thomas whispered hoarsely.

“Then do it already,” Mario said and leaned even closer to Thomas, offering him his neck.

He heard a deep growl come out of Thomas’ throat, almost like a wild animal shortly before they attack, then Thomas’ teeth bored into the thin skin above the carotid artery. Mario gasped, not from pain, but from pure lust. He felt Thomas’ arousal, heightened by the blood, as if it were his own. And he knew that it was the same for Thomas.

He gasped quietly and pulled Mario closer to him. Mario’s hands dug themselves into Thomas’ hair. He could feel Thomas drinking his warm, precious blood… “God,” he gasped hoarsely. He pushed himself as tightly against Thomas as possible. He was now moving rapidly and forcefully, while he kept sucking on Mario’s neck.

Mario felt how aroused Thomas was, felt his hard dick through his pants and wished for a second they hadn’t done it immediately here on the sofa, but rather in bed without the disruptive clothing. But it was too late for that, the feeling of Thomas sucking on him, the closeness, the heat, coupled with the feelings he was sensing from Thomas were too much. With a hoarse cry, he came, hard and heavy.

A moment later, Thomas followed him, brought to the end through the feelings he sensed. He sucked once more on Mario’s neck, then licked across the spot to help the healing. With an exhausted smile, Mario cuddled closer into Thomas and closed his eyes. A minute long, Thomas just held him, then he felt the his boyfriend’s concern.

“It was wonderful,” Mario whispered.

“And… how are you doing now?”

“Good,” Mario smiled.

“I didn’t… too much…?”

“No. But you can feel that, can’t you?”

Thomas nodded. “But… I’m still afraid that it was too much…”

“You don’t have to be,” Mario said and pressed a kiss on Thomas’ neck. He closed his eyes and leaned into Mario. That helped him feel exactly if Mario was doing well again. He felt a bit of leftover arousal, peace, happiness. Obviously he also felt the exhaustion, but that was normal. It was late in the evening and they had a long day behind them.

“Off to bed?” he asked after a moment of silence. Mario mumbled in agreeance. Thomas smiled and stood up, with Mario still pressed to him. He carried him into the bathroom like that.

“I can walk,” Mario protested weakly.

“You like being carried,” Thomas smiled.

Mario grinned. “You’re crazy.”

“That’s not new, is it?” Thomas laughed quietly.

“True,” Mario nodded and kissed Thomas’ neck’s warm skin again.

“Come on, get ready quickly, I’ll be right back,” Thomas promised and disappeared out of the bathroom. Yawning, Mario cleaned himself off and brushed his teeth quickly. While he was, he threw a quick glance into the mirror and examined the spot on his neck to see if anything was visible. The spot was a bit red, but the skin was closed, and you couldn’t tell that sharp canines had bitten him a few minutes ago.

With a smile, he touched the spot. He felt a slight tingle, otherwise everything felt normal. And this time he didn’t feel weak, so Thomas must have not drunk very much. Hopefully he had helped remove a large portion of Thomas’ fear with this.

He finished up quickly and then went into the bedroom, where Thomas was already waiting for him. He bundled his clothing onto a chair that was against the wall and then scrambled into bed to Thomas. Immediately, he was pulled into his boyfriend’s warm arms and against his warm body.

“Good night,” Mario whispered.

“Good night,” Thomas returned and kissed him quickly. Mario smiled happily and closed his eyes. It didn’t take long for him to fall asleep.


	39. "Mine!"

Wandering fingers on his neck woke Mario up the next morning. “Wake up,” Thomas grinned.

“Hmm,” Mario purred quietly.

Thomas laughed. “Come on my little grumpy puss.” Mario had to grin involuntarily. “Aha, you are awake,” Thomas decided and pressed his lips softly against Mario’s.

Still a bit groggy, Mario returned the kiss. “I already made breakfast,” Thomas told him when he released himself from Mario’s lips.

“Were you already up?” Mario asked a bit more awake.

Thomas nodded. “But you were sleeping so deeply, I didn’t want to wake you up.”

“It was an exhausting day yesterday,” Mario said and qualified it immediately when he felt Thomas’ guilty conscience. “It’s not your fault!”

“I shouldn’t have drunk from you,” Thomas still said.

“Yes you should have!” Mario contradicted immediately. “I’m always tired after a matchday no matter how much I’ve played. The driving, the flying, everything.”

“And that’s why I shouldn’t have robbed you of your strength,” Thomas retorted.

“How much blood was it then? Way less than if I’d donated.” Thomas nodded reluctantly.

“See. Besides, I’ll get used to it.”

“You shouldn’t have to get used to it,” Thomas sighed.

“I want to. You’re not going to suck other people dry.” Thomas grinned when he sensed the jealousy that accompanied Mario’s words. “What? Would you want me to go to bed with other guys?”

“Of course not,” Thomas said immediately and suppressed a shudder at the thought. Just the thought of someone else grabbing Mario…

Mario grinned when he sensed Thomas’ feelings very clearly. “Well then.”

“You belong to me,” Thomas said and pulled Mario towards himself. Even with the words, Mario could feel the rage.

A few seconds later, Mario felt Thomas’ lips pressing hard against his own. A hard, almost aggressive kiss. Mario groaned, returning the kiss. His tongue stroked Thomas’ teeth softly, which had become a bit sharper and longer than usual. Quietly, Thomas gasped and help him in an iron grasp.

Mario did nothing to stop it. Why should he? It felt good to be so in demand. And he was certain that if he were to send Thomas those feelings, he would let him go immediately. So he only let Thomas know how good he felt, that he wanted more. And Thomas gave him more -- hard kisses, firm touches.

Everything aroused Mario more and more, and he tried to press himself closer to Thomas. Thomas kissed him again firmly, then somewhat roughly, he tore Mario’s boxers down and grabbed his hard dick. Mario groaned hoarsely and thrust into Thomas’ hand. He climbed on top of him and pushed him hard into the mattress, while still massaging him.

“God… Thomas…!” Thomas massaged him more, quickly and forcefully. It didn’t take long for everything in Mario to come undone. He gasped rawly, then came. Thomas pressed himself against him and pressed his face into Mario’s adam’s apple. Mario felt him fight with himself for a second, then with a relieved smile, he came.

Mario turned his head and caught Thomas’ lips in a gentle kiss. He felt that Thomas was still somewhat aroused, so he closed his eyes to bring himself down a bit. With closed eyes, Thomas returned the kiss and felt his arousal slowly flow away.

“I did it,” he whispered almost inaudibly.

“What?” Mario asked.

“I didn’t bite you,” Thomas whispered.

Mario smiled, when he felt Thomas’ relief. “And it was still nice for both of us.”

Thomas nodded immediately. “Very nice, in fact.”

Mario nodded slightly and kissed his neck. “It was.”

Thomas smilled when he felt the sweet kiss. Then he was distracted suddenly. “The rolls…”

“What about them?” Mario asked.

“They’re ready.”

“That’s good,” Mario grinned. “I’m starving!”

Thomas laughed quietly and released himself from Mario. “Clean up quickly, then there’ll be breakfast.”

Mario nodded and stood up quickly to vanish into the bathroom.

When he entered the kitchen, Thomas was already sitting at the table waiting for him -- with a glass of coffee in his hand. Mario sat down next to him. “I love the smell of warm rolls,” he said and reached into the basket.

“Me too,” Thomas smiled and also took a roll. They ate breakfast very calmly and comfortably.

Eventually, Thomas broke them off, “Even if it’s just regeneration today, you need it…”

“I know,” Mario nodded. “Besides, right now it would really not be good if I ditched.”

Thomas nodded. “Let’s go. Get dressed, I’ll clean up quick.”

“Ok,” Mario said and gave Thomas a kiss on the cheek.

He stood up and walked down the hallway, listening to Thomas hectically clearing the dishes. He had barely put on one shoe before Thomas was ready.

Grinning, he pulled on his second shoe, then shrugged his jacket on. “Ready. We can go.”

“Ok,” Thomas nodded, grabbed his wallet, and opened the apartment door.

The drive to the training grounds didn’t take too long, and they were climbing out of the car a few minutes later. Mario’s gaze fell onto Michi’s car, which was parked next to Jörg’s.

Michi was nowhere to be seen.

“Give him time,” Thomas said quietly.

“He was such a good friend…”

“And with a bit of luck, he’ll be one again. And until then, you still have Philipp and me,” Thomas said.

“I hope…” Mario muttered.

Thomas nodded understanding. “It’ll be ok. And now come on.”

Mario nodded and got out. Together they entered the building and the locker room.


	40. Distraction

The locker room was relatively full, but Michi wasn’t there. Instead, Phil was, who came towards them immediately.

“Morning,” Mario greeted him, and Thomas nodded at him.

“Good morning to both of you,” Phil smiled.

“Did… Michi say something?” Mario asked quietly.

Phil shook his head. “He ignored me and basically everyone else here too.”

Mario sighed quietly. “We shouldn’t have told him. Damn it, why did we…”

“Relax,” Thomas said quietly and stroked Mario’s shoulder.

Mario closed his eyes briefly and let Thomas’ calm affect him.

Phil watched them interestedly. “We really should wait a few days. Michi has a lot to think about. A lot of people just need time to come to terms with an outing like this.”

Mario nodded, “Do you think we still have a chance then?”

Phil shrugged. “If Michi really cares about your friendship, then he’ll adjust to it somehow. And if not, he never was the friend you thought he was.”

Mario shook his head, he didn’t want to believe that.

“Phil, we were considering letting in a couple others in on the secret,” Thomas said. “And we thought that maybe you’d know who’s… the least dangerous.”

Philipp nodded. “I can understand, Both that you want more people to know, and that you’re careful…” He went through the team squad in his thoughts. “I’m rather certain that Andi wouldn’t have anything against it. I talked to Holger for a long time about similar things, and I’m definitely sure that he’d support you. And I would almost bet on a sympathetic reaction from Jörg -- if Michi doesn’t ever accept it, then he’ll have to,” Philipp grinned.

Against his will, Mario had to laugh. “Goalkeepers all have some sort of struggle don’t they?”

“Clearly,” Philipp laughed.

“Ok, so Andi and Holger,” Thomas nodded. He’d also guessed on a positive reaction from the two of them.

“Do it without worrying,” Philipp advised.

“Would you… be there again?” Mario asked.

“Of course,” Philipp nodded immediately.

“Thanks,” Thomas smiled. “You’re really a great friend.”

“That goes without saying!”

Thomas shrugged. Unfortunately it really didn’t.

“So, enough thinking, go get ready for training, we’ll have it over with quicker.”

Mario and Thomas nodded and quickly changed.

The following training session wasn’t particularly exciting, but still Mario and Thomas noticed that Michi kept his distance from them.

It hurt and also wasn’t particularly inconspicuous. More than once, questioning gazes wandered back and forth between them and Michi.

Thomas was just happy that no one talked to them.

Still, they were more than glad when the training was finally over. Michi left the pitch for the locker room in a hurry.

Thomas and Mario watched him with a sigh, and they both felt the same sorrow for the lost friendship.

“Do you want to go to Pähl today?” Thomas asked to raise Mario’s spirits a bit.

Somewhat surprised, Mario looked at him, then nodded. “Yes!”

Thomas smiled. “Good. Then we’d best hurry up and head out straight away.”

“Don’t you have to announce us beforehand?”

“I’ll do it on the way,” Thomas grinned. “Besides, Michael knows my habit of showing up rather suddenly.”

Mario nodded with a crooked grin. “How long does it take you to run?”

“20 or 30 minutes,” Thomas shrugged.

“And with a car?”

“We’ll need about an hour.”

“Sorry that I can’t run,” Mario murmured.

Thomas laughed quietly. “During the day I always drive a car obediently. Besides, it’s not a problem for me to spent an hour in a car with you.”

“Then let’s go quick so that we can head out,” Mario suggested.

Thomas nodded and began to peel off his training clothes.

Mario hesitated, he actually had wanted to wait until Thomas was done, but he was cold and he wanted to be able to be under the shower.

Thomas looked at him briefly. “Come on,” he said. “You’ll get a cold if you stand around it your sweaty clothing.”

Somewhat unsure, Mario nodded and undressed himself quickly as well.

Thomas didn’t wait, but vanished under the shower. He chose a stall at the very end.

Mario recognized that with a smile and put himself under the opposite shower.

It was hard for Thomas to not continually look at Mario and eventually turned towards the wall.

Mario couldn’t stop himself and kept glancing more or less inconspicuously at Thomas’ tight butt.

The water gave Thomas’ skin a seductive shine and Mario noticed the sight pulling him in more and arousing him.

It didn’t take long before he received a similar answer from Thomas.

Mario swallowed and tightened one hand into a fist.

But the feelings that came from Thomas didn’t get any less.

Mario closed his eyes for a moment and tried to suppress the feelings.

But he couldn’t concentrate on anything else until Philipp came up to him.

“You need to practice showering,” Phil grinned wryly. “If you don’t want the whole team to know about you two.”

Mario sighed quietly. “The thing with the feelings can be pretty dumb…”

Phil laughed quietly. “I can imagine.”

“And he just turns away…”

“Luckily. Who know what would happen otherwise.”

Mario grumbled something, then he nodded in agreement, while he dried himself off quickly.

“And do you have something nice planned for today?” Phil asked.

“We wanted to go to Pähl, see Thomasbit nervous.  
“That sounds very nice.”

“I’m a bit nervous… and that’ll get worse,” Mario half-grinned and pulled on his shorts and a t-shirt.

“Oh don’t worry about it,” Phil said. “You’re a nice man, and I’m sure Thomas’ family won’t have anything against that.”

Mario shrugged his shoulders. “And how nervous were you?”

“Very nervous,” Phil admitted. “I wanted to stay in the car or better yet vanish into a mousehole.”

“Well see -- and I shouldn’t be nervous? Add to that that I’m a man, not exactly the best partner that parents would wish for their children.” Mario grinned. “At least not for male children.”

“Do Thomas’ parents know he’s gay?” Phil asked.

Mario hesitated for a moment, then he nodded. His parents probably didn’t know, but his relatives they were visiting did.

“Then it’s no problem,” Phil grinned.

Mario snorted. “Yeah, you were only nervous because your in-laws were expecting a daughter in-law, right?”

Phil laughed again. “Ok, I’ll admit it. Visiting your in-laws is always… exciting.”

“Thank you, that’s what I wanted to hear,” Mario nodded and pulled on his second shoe. In the meantime, Thomas also had come out of the shower and was getting dressed.

“Don’t look,” Phil said immediately, following Mario’s sight.

Mario nodded and bit his lower lip when he caught Thomas’ feelings.

“You’re both so bad,” Phil grinned. “Come on, finish getting ready, then we’ll wait outside for your beloved.”

Mario nodded, then quickly collected his things and left the locker room together with Phil.


	41. Mario's Story

“I’ve been thinking about how we can tell Andi and Holger the best way,” Phil told him.

“And?” Mario asked immediately.

“We’ll invite them both to dinner,” Phil said. “I’ll cook something, then we can talk more openly than in a restaurant.”

“That sounds good -- it’s very nice of you.”

Phil waved his hand. “It’s not a problem. I’m happy to do it for you two.”

“It’s still nice of you,” Mario smiled.

“You can think about what you’d all like to eat,” Phil said.

Mario grinned slightly, it was clear what Thomas had an appetite for… Then he suggested, “Some sort of casserole?”

Phil considered, then he nodded. “I’ll find something tasty.”

“That’s great, thanks.”

“By the way, Thomas is coming,” Phil said.

Mario nodded, he’d already felt that.

“Then talk it oven with him, and I’ll settle things with Andi and Holger,” Phil said.

Mario nodded immediately and quickly said goodbye to Philipp.

“What are you supposed to talk to me about?” Thomas asked, who’d heard Phil’s last words.

“Come on, let’s head out first,” Mario suggested, since more teammates and fans hunting for autographs had collected in the meantime, and they didn’t need to overhear.

Thomas nodded and went to his car. Quickly, he unlocked the car and both of them stashed their bags in the trunk.

After they’d climbed in and Thomas had started the engine, Mario began to tell him what he’d discussed with Philipp.

“Sounds like a good idea,” Thomas nodded immediately in agreement.

“Then we just need a date.”

“Tomorrow?” Thomas suggested.

Mario hesitated a bit, then nodded. “Then we’ll have it behind us...”

Thomas softly rested his hand on Mario’s knee. “It won’t be like Michi, I’m very certain. Phil has a good understanding of people.”

“I hope so…” Mario muttered. “I was so sure about Michi…”

“Michi is sometimes hard to read,” Thomas said. “In retrospect, I could bite myself in the ass for not thinking it through better.”

“I was sure he wouldn’t have any problems with it,” Mario muttered.

“Michi grew up somewhat… conservatively,” Thomas said. “I’ve experienced that before.”

“Don’t accuse yourself,” Mario begged quietly. “Somehow we’ll manage it all again.”

“I hope so too,” Thomas nodded.

“Let’s not keep thinking about that… there’s enough tension already today…”

Thomas laughed quietly. “You don’t have to be nervous. Michael and Christin are going to be ridiculously excited and the two little ones will love you.”

Mario nodded, not completely sure. He would be happy when he was done with it. At least the introduction and the first getting-to-know-yous.

Thomas stroked Mario’s leg gently. “Do your parents know that you’re gay?”

Mario nodded. “They lived through the stuff in Stuttgart in person.”

“Do you want to tell me what happened in Stuttgart?” Thomas asked.

Mario hesitated, and Thomas felt the leftover sadness and injury, the old doubt, which had controlled Mario at that time.

“You don’t have to if it’s too hard for you,” Thomas said softly.

“Yes I do, you should know,” Mario was convinced. “And it’s long enough ago now that I need to find a way over it.”

Thomas just nodded silently. He knew that there were some things which you could never just get over.

“We’d known each other for a long time,” Mario started. “From the youth system.”

“A good friend?” Thomas asked.

Mario nodded. “He was back then. Somehow we got together, it just sort of happened.”

“Sort of happened?” Thomas asked.

“We went out a few times together, first with some friends, then alone. Going to dinner, movies, bars… And after a while we just got closer. It was the logical conclusion that we got together.”

“It sounds nice,” Thomas said.

“It was too,” Mario nodded. “Until… until he found someone else. I don’t know how long things were going between the two of them…”

Thomas swallowed hard. “That ass.”

“He always wanted to make me believe I was the only one -- and I believed him too like an idiot. But by then he already had three…”

Thomas felt rage rising in him when he heard that. “How did you find out?”

“Rather typically -- both of them were in our bed.”

“God! I could kill that guy.”

“Don’t, he definitely doesn’t taste good,” Mario grinned wryly.

“He hurt you,” Thomas said with clenched teeth.

Mario nodded. “But I’m past it now honestly. He’s an ass, I just realized that way too late.”

“Do I know him?” Thomas asked.

“I doubt it -- he doesn’t play any more either.”

Thomas nodded, a bit relieved. He didn’t know what he would have done if he’d have been standing opposite the guy on a pitch.

“Anyway, it wasn’t a very nice time, and I was glad that my parents knew about me.”

“I can imagine,” Thomas said quietly.

He still felt the deep sadness, disappointment, and hurt that Mario had suffered during that time.

Thomas decided then and there to pull over to the shoulder of the road and stopped. He turned to Mario and pulled him tightly towards him. “I’ll never hurt you that much.”

Mario closed his eyes and cuddled into him.

Thomas also shut his eyes and placed a kiss on Mario’s forehead.

He thought about their relationship and how close they were, and hoped to be able to send that sureness to Mario.

“Thank you,” Mario whispered after a while.

“If you’re feeling better…?”

Mario nodded and smiled.

Thomas kissed him again quickly, then looked him over. “Can we keep going?”

Mario nodded again.

Thomas gave him another smile and a warm, loved feeling, then he started the engine again and drove on.

This time, it was Mario who laid a hand on Thomas’ knee. He just needed the physical contact then.

When he could, Thomas laid his hand on Mario’s until they eventually arrived in Pähl.

Immediately, Mario’s nervousness came back.

“They don’t bite, don’t worry,” Thomas smiled at him and got out. He walked to the passenger’s side and before Mario had quite gotten out himself, grabbed his hand.

Mario looked at him a bit surprised, but then squeezed Thomas’ hand tightly. Anyone who could see them here was probably part of Thomas’ family and would find out about them anyway.


	42. Visiting Negra

Without another word, Thomas led them to the entrance of the house. “Michael knows about me, Christin and the children don’t,” he explained quickly.

“Ok,” Mario nodded.

On the steps to the house, Thomas pulled out his keys and unlocked the door while ringing the bell simultaneously to announce themselves.

Mario grinned. He announced his presence at his parents’ house similarly too.

They had barely stepped through the door before two children, one girl, one boy, ran at them excitedly.

“Hello my sweets,” Thomas greeted them with a warm smile.

Soon, he had both children in his arms and was hugging them tight. “Mario, this is Mario and David, and that, that’s Mario. My boyfriend.”

“Hey you two,” Mario said with a smile.

“Hi Mario,” he was greeted by both children rather vehemently.

Thomas grinned when he saw that.

It was nice that both of them were taking to Mario.

“Thomas! It hasn’t been very long,” Christin came out of the kitchen with a smile.

“Hello,” he hugged Christin sideways, since he still had both kids in his arms. “I wanted to introduce you all to Mario.”

Christin turned her head to Mario. “You’re Mario then,” she said and hugged him without hesitation.

“Hello,” Mario greeted her and felt a deep smile when he was pulled into her arms.

“The two of you are here just in time for lunch,” she said when she let go of Mario again.

“What is there?” Thomas wanted to know immediately.

“Noodle soup,” Christin said.

“Delicious,” Thomas was excited and beamed at Mario. “Christin is a fantastic cook.”

“Thomas is exaggerating,” Christin laughed.

“Until now, I’ve always enjoyed being able to eat at yours. Is Michael here too?”

“In the stable,” Christin nodded.

“Is lunch already ready or can we go out quick?” Thomas wanted to know.

Christin looked at her watch. “They have to cook a little bit longer, so you two can make a quick trip to the stable.”

Immediately, Thomas set down both children and grabbed Mario’s hand. “Do you want to see Negra? And Senegal?”

“Of course,” Mario said immediately.

Thomas grabbed his hand again and pulled him outside, both kids were held back by Christin.

“The two of them are very sweet,” Mario said as they walked over the yard to the stalls.

“I’m happy to have them,” Thomas nodded.

“I believe you. Will you tell them the truth about you eventually?” Mario asked.

Thomas nodded. “Yes, definitely. I always had someone, a human, a relative who knew about me. My parents, then my sister -- Michael’s mother. And now Michael.”

“And Christin?” Mario asked. “Why doesn’t she know?”

Thomas shrugged his shoulders. “I wanted to tell her before the kids came, but somehow it never came up. And as long as the kids are small, I don’t want to do it. She would be too scared for them, I don’t need to do that to her.”

Mario nodded. “Of course.”

“In a couple of years things will be different. And Michael knows, that’s important to me.”

Mario nodded again.

“Come on,” Thomas ordered him and pulled him into the stable with him. “You can finally meet him.”

“Michael!” Thomas called as soon as they were standing in the dim light of the stable.

“Thomas!” Michael was surprised.

“I brought a visitor,” Thomas said and pulled Mario with him to Negra’s stall.

Like usual, the horses retreated into the far corners of their stalls as soon as they sensed his presence.

“What’s wrong with them?” Mario asked astounded.

“They sense me,” Thomas explained.

“Oh,” Mario replied.

“I never see the dogs and cats here on the farm face-to-face,” Thomas started, then Michael was standing straight in front of him and hugged him in greeting.

“You’re Mario, right?” Michael said when he released himself from Thomas.

“I am,” he nodded and was also greeted with a short hug.

“I’m glad a visit managed to work out so soon,” Michael smiled.

“I had to show Mario where I come from. Besides… we had a bit of trouble, so we needed a distraction.”

Michael looked at him concerned. “What happened?”

“Nothing bad, nothing that won’t straighten out soon enough. But it’s good to be out of it for a couple hours.”

“That’s good,” Michael nodded. Then he looked at Mario. “And you wanted to see the little one?”

“Of course, since I could name her!”

“Then come with me,” Michael said and entered the stall.

He forced Ankala a bit backwards and shoved the foal Negra towards the stall’s door.

Mario carefully walked a step forward and then went to the gate. “She really is as dark as night.”

“And if her genes have anything to do with it, she’ll stay that way,” Michael said. “The name fits her.”

Mario smiled, then stuck a hand out. “Will you let me pet you, hm?”

A curious nose shoved itself into his hand.

Mario’s smile got bigger. He’d never had any real contact with horses before, but Negra was very cute.

Cute, curious, and trusting. So trusting, that she even let Thomas touch her.

“Maybe she’ll be as trusting as Senegal,” Michael said.

“I hope so… I’ll have to come here more often so she can get used to me,” Thomas said.

Michael nodded. “Can you ride Mario?”

“Does pony-riding at age seven count?” Mario grinned.

“Not really -- you’re too big for a pony,” Michael laughed.

“The pony happily let me ride it then!” Mario retorted, also laughing.

“Then let Thomas teach you, you could go for a ride together sometime,” Michael suggested…”We don’t have to go back until this evening,” Thomas said, “you could get your first riding lesson today already.”

“You’re scaring me,” Mario said with a broad grin.

“Take Macarena, she’s always calm, even though her name doesn’t sound like it,” Michael said. “I’ll help you with her after lunch.”

“If you say so,” Mario said.

“Macarena’ll do it without a problem -- Marie’s even allowed to ride on her.”

“Besides, I’ll also be there,” Thomas said. “I won’t let you fall.”

Mario nodded, he could imagine how closely Thomas would watch out for him.

Michael looked at both of them interestedly. “I’ll take it that you already know about Thomas?”

Mario nodded. “I know.”

“Great,” Michael smiled. “Then I’ll take it, that you two… aren’t just good friends.” Thomas wrapped an arm around Mario and pulled him close. Michael grinned big. “That’s so wonderful!”

“You have no idea how happy I am.”

“Yes I do, you can see it,” Michael said. “And your Mario is also beaming ear-to-ear.” Mario smiled and turned to Thomas to give him a quick kiss. “It’s good to see you like this Thomas,” Michael said.

Thomas just smiled happily. “So, come you two,” Michael said. “Lunch should be ready by now.”

Thomas pet Negra’s nose carefully once more, then Michael closed the stall and they left the stable. Then he and Mario followed his nephew back in the house where the smell of freshly cooked noodle soup was hanging in the air.


	43. The Somewhat Different Headache Pill

The kids were already sitting at the table hungrily waiting impatiently for their lunch.

“Just in time,” Christin said when she saw the three men.

They just laughed and sat down, and Christin filled up their plates.

“Do you play football too?” David asked Mario sometime.

“Yep,” Mario nodded. “Together with Thomas. Do you play too?”

David nodded enthusiastically. “I’m going to be a footballer too, like Uncle Thomas.”

“Then you have to practice hard,” Mario nodded.

“I want to be a footballer too,” Marie said.

Mario looked at her straightaway. “And are you already practicing too?”

Marie nodded. “But David doesn’t want to play with me, because he says that girls can’t be footballers.”

“That’s not true at all,” Mario contradicted immediately. “The German women even won the world cup!”

Marie looked at her brother immediately. “You see, you idiot!”

Mario laughed quietly, his sister would have reacted the same way when they were kids.

“Marie, you shouldn’t annoy your brother,” Christin said with a sigh.

“But he started it!”

“Did not!” David protested.

“Did too!”

Michael rolled his eyes and looked at Mario and Thomas apologetically. “A difficult age.”

“It’s fine. You weren’t around when my sister and I… talked,” Mario grinned.

Michael laughed. “Probably similar to these two here.”

Mario nodded. “It’s preparation for real life,” he grinned.

Christin shook her head with a grin. “You sound like my brother.”

“Did it not prepare you?” Mario asked and grinned too.

“No, it did,” Christin admitted.

“Well, see, so you shouldn’t deprive your children of it. As long as they don’t get carried away or grab their silverware…”

“Don’t give them stupid ideas,” Christin said laughing.

Mario laughed and went back to eating. The soup was good and filling.

The others also dug in and for a while, the conversation diffused.

After lunch, the children were invited to a friend’s birthday party, and Mario, Michael, and Thomas went to the stables. Like usual, Thomas edged very slowly towards a particular stall, until Senegal came to him.

“That’s Senegal?” Mario asked, who was standing close behind Thomas.

Thomas just nodded, so as not to scare the horse. It had gotten the confidence to come closer; not much time had passed since their last contact, which is why the nearness was easier.

Mario wrapped an arm around Thomas’ middle and rested his chin on his boyfriend’s shoulder.

A curious horse nose came nearer.

Thomas stretched out a hand and lightly touched Senegal.

A quiet snort, then Senegal came closer.

“It’s ok,” Thomas murmured.

It took a moment, then Senegal seemed to have enough confidence to let Thomas pet him over his head and neck.

“Is he always so gentle?” Mario asked curious.

“He’s damn brave, in comparison to the others.”

“That’s hard for me to believe,” Mario muttered.

Thomas sighed quietly. “You get used to it. And exceptions like Senegal… they exist.”

Mario nodded and pressed a kiss against Thomas’ neck.

“Mario, do you want to make friends with Macarena now?” he was by Michael called at that moment, who was leading a large, dark brown horse by the reins.

Mario nodded and freed himself from Thomas.

Thomas glanced at him, then occupied himself with Senegal again, while Mario let Michael explain everything possible.

While that was happening, Thomas led Senegal out of the stable and saddled him. With an elegant motion, he swung himself up into the saddle and looked at Mario.

He returned his gaze in awe and then -- nowhere near as neatly as Thomas -- let himself be helped onto the horse. Michael grabbed the reins and led Macarena out of the stable.

“And?” Thomas asked when he’d led Senegal next to Macarena. “How does it feel?”

“Very good. Just… high,” Mario half-grinned.

“You get used to it quickly,” Thomas said.

“Yeah,” Mario murmured and grabbed the saddle tightly while Michael led him across the farm.

“Trust me, riding’s really great,” Thomas said. “Through the forest or here over the fields.”

“I believe you,” Mario murmured somewhat unsure. “But falling from here, that doesn’t sound so nice.”

“You won’t fall,” Thomas said.

Mario looked at him -- and then felt the security which Thomas was giving him.

“For now, I’ll lead you,” Michael said from below. “You should first get the feeling for the animal.”

Mario nodded and then it began. Very slowly, first a circle around the pasture, then a few meters out to a nearby path.

In the beginning it was really strange, and Mario kept sliding back and forth on the saddle, but slowly he adjusted to the swaying feeling.

It didn’t take long for Michael to decide he didn’t need to keep going. He handed Thomas the lead which ran from Macarena to Senegal.

“Have fun you two,” he called after them.

“We will,” Thomas nodded, and Mario agreed with him.

Slowly, Thomas led the two horses along the path.

They stayed on the path for a while, then Thomas turned into the forest.

“It’s really beautiful here,” Mario said.

Thomas swallowed slightly. “It is. Just… over there,” he pointed at a patch in the forest. “That’s where it happened…”

“You… were changed here?” Mario asked quietly.

Thomas nodded. “It was a nice summer day, and I was out here with the dog.”

Mario felt goosebumps that were coming through Thomas’ feelings to him.

He felt the fear which Thomas had had then, deathly fear and pain.

Immediately, he reached out his hand and touched Thomas’ arm in sympathy.

He felt his boyfriend slowly calming down.

“Better?” Mario asked gently.

A slight nod was the answer. “Normally I don’t think about when I’m here but today… I wanted to show it to you.”

“And Jakob really came across you here by accident?” Mario asked after hesitating a moment.

Thomas shook his head. “No, he didn’t come here. I somehow managed to get home, and my parents had taken care of me as best they could. Jakob first came barely two weeks later, he had heard rumors.”

“Thank God,” Mario whispered.

Thomas nodded. “He took care of me straight away and saved my life. Or whatever you call a vampire’s life.”

“You live just like I do, or Michael and his family,” Mario said immediately.

“Except I don’t die…”,”

 

“Can vampires not die?” Mario asked.

“I think we can. But… I don’t want to try,” Thomas grinned.

Mario shook his head. “I’m just curious. Vampires really are way different than they’re presented.”

“We can ask Jakob...it’s never interested me before how I don’t die.”

Mario nodded. “You never explained to me what happens with the sun.”

“It gives me headaches. The first couple of minutes are ok, but after it’s really awful. But luckily, there’s something you can do about that, Jakob got it for me when we were travelling together. It’s an amulet that I wear.”

“An amulet?” Mario asked. “But you don’t wear any jewelry.”

“Not where you can see it,” Thomas grinned. “On my foot. Everything else I’d have to take off for matches, but I can hide it under the tape.”

“What does it look like?”

“I can show you this evening. Looks a bit Celtic, with a moon on it. About so big,” he showed the size of a two Euro coin.

“So small?” Mario was astonished.

“What else did you expect? It couldn’t be much bigger if I can hide it.”

Mario grinned. “True. I’m just surprised.”

“I’m just happy that I have that… headache pill. Without it I wouldn’t be able to go outside during the day.”

“And then we never would have met.”

Thomas nodded. “And that would have been awful.”

“More than awful,” Mario said seriously.

“For me for sure. You would have eventually found a boyfriend who didn’t want to constantly nibble on you.”

“I would never find a boyfriend like you,” Mario shook his head.

“True -- there’s not that many who want your blood,” Thomas grinned.

“I meant that seriously Thomas,” Mario said. “I only want you.”

“I know,” Thomas nodded. “I feel it. And… that feels so indescribable.”

Mario smiled gently. “Can we stop for a second and get down?”

Thomas nodded, sorted the reins in his hand and climbed off the horse, then helped Mario down.

Immediately, Mario wrapped his arms around Thomas and hugged him close.

With a smile, Thomas also pulled him tight.

Mario didn’t say anything, letting Thomas feel his feelings instead.

Warmth, love, trust, happiness.

And he sensed the same feelings from Thomas too.


	44. Coffee Klatch

They stayed standing like that for a while until the horses got bored and started chewing on Mario’s jacket.

“Hey! My jacket doesn’t taste good,” Mario laughed.

Thomas laughed quietly and batted Senegal on the nose. The horse snorted, but let Mario’s jacket go. “We should keep going, these two want to join the others in the pasture.”

Mario nodded. “Then… you have to help me up again.”

“Of course,” Thomas smiled and stepped towards Macarena to help Mario up, but the horse refused. It just wouldn’t let Thomas near it.

“Ok, then I have to try it alone,” Mario said.

“Sorry,” Thomas muttered and then got into the saddle slowly, so Mario could see exactly what to do.

“It’s not your fault,” Mario said. Then he looked at Macarena. “Stay still, my dear.”

Thomas rode a couple meters off so that Macarena stayed calm. Mario laid a hand on the saddle horn and put one foot into the stirrup. So far, so good, he thought. Then Macarena took one step forwards.

“No… stop Macarena!” Mario called and hopped along with the horse rather inelegantly. Thomas watched and couldn’t help laughing at it. “You just laugh,” Mario muttered.

“Sorry,” Thomas called over to him, but Mario felt that he wasn’t really sorry. Mario looked at him at stuck out his tongue.

“Try again,” Thomas called to him. “Pet Macarena’s nose and talk to her. Then but your foot in the stirrup and get a big swing.”

He pulled himself up and eventually he was actually sitting in the saddle of his own doing and convincing Macarena carefully to go towards Thomas and Senegal. “Very good,” Thomas praised him smiling. Mario beamed at him proudly.

“Do you want to try a faster pace?” Thomas asked.

“Faster?” Mario looked at him unsure. “I just rode my first meters alone… but if you say so…”

“I can take the reins again,” Thomas said.

Mario swallowed. “Then… I’m better off alone. Macarena’s calmer…”

Thomas nodded. “I’ll look after you Mario. You don’t have to have any fear.”

Mario nodded. “So, where is the clutch and the accelerator?”

Thomas laughed quietly. “Try to hold the reins like I do,” he began giving Mario instructions. Mario followed all his notes, tips, and descriptions, until they rode off a couple minutes later. Thomas let Senegal push ahead, not too fast, while keeping his senses focused on Mario. He was nervous, but his fright was soon gone, and shortly thereafter he felt very good on Macarena -- even when she changed her gate from a walk to a trot.

Macarena was a very gentle mare, that Senegal followed without much problem. After a short while, Mario had fun riding, even so quickly, and he regretted it when they came back to the farm. Thomas was happy that Mario had had so much fun riding. He loved it, and he loved it even more to not ride alone.

Mario turned his head and looked at him with a beaming smile. “I never thought it would be so much fun.”

“It’s nice that you enjoyed it,” Thomas returned the beam.

“Back in one piece, I see,” Michael came out of the stable at that moment.

“And even in a trot,” Thomas told him proudly. “Mario is really a natural talent. Well, and Macarena is too of course.”

Michael laughed and grabbed Macarena’s reins. “I’m glad that you got along so well.”

“She’s very sweet,” Mario smiled.

“Do you need help getting off?”

“I managed before,” Mario said and climbed down, inelegantly but successfully.

“Just a little bit of practice, and then you’d make quite a good rider,” Michael said.

“He already does,” Thomas was convinced. “Mounting and dismounting, ok, but riding…”

Mario felt a slight tinge in his cheeks when he felt how proud Thomas was of him. He stroked Macarena on the forehead and nose a bit absentmindedly. “It’s a very nice horse.”

Thomas laughed quietly and stepped carefully towards Mario. He didn’t want to scare the animal. Still, Macarena took a step sideways as he got nearer. Thomas sighed. “Then Michael has to show you how to take the saddle off. I’ll take care of Senegal.”

Mario brushed his shoulder briefly, then Thomas went back to Senegal and Michael walked over to him. With quick, skilled hand motions, Michael showed Mario how to release the saddle and take it off Macarena’s back. Then, Mario carried the saddle into the barn while Michael led Macarena and Senegal to the pasture. He glanced into the stall where the little Negra and her mother were standing as he passed.

“Tomorrow or the day after the two of them will join the others,” Thomas, who was now standing behind him, said.

Mario nodded and felt behind him until he found Thomas’ hand. “Thanks for bringing me here.”

“I’m glad you like it here. This is my real home, and it’ll always be that way.”

“Do you miss your life here sometimes?” Mario asked and turned to his boyfriend.

“I would miss it if I couldn’t come back,” Thomas said. “But like this it’s ok.” Mario nodded, even though he felt a slight melancholy from Thomas. He laid an arm around Thomas and pulled him close. Thomas smiled softly and leaned against Mario. “I… we can come back whenever,” he repeated.

Mario nodded. “It’s not far from Munich.”

“Are you two coming for coffee?” they heard Christin calling across the farm.

Mario and Thomas released each other. “We’re coming,” Thomas called. They left the barn together and went to the house where Christin and Michael were already expecting them.

“Mario, would you rather have coffee or cocoa?” Christin asked when the two of them entered the kitchen.

“Coffee,” Mario requested and sat down next to Thomas.

Christin nodded. “And how was your ride?”

“Wonderful,” Mario gushed. “Your Macarena is really a great horse.”

“She is,” Christin nodded. “Very patient, especially with inexperienced riders.”

Thomas nodded. “It was very nice, but a bit cold.”

“Then have something to warm you up,” Christin smiled and pushed two coffee mugs at them. “And there’s a few cookies too.”

Mario was, unlike Thomas, very cold, and the coffee warmed him up well.

“And now tell us how everything happened between you two,” Christin asked, sitting down next to her husband. “I’m so terribly curious.”

Thomas smiled. “I was so sick last week,” he said. “I couldn’t get to training and barely got out of bed. And sometime, Mario was standing at my door with a big pot of chicken soup which got me back on my feet.”

“Thomas resisted with everything he’s got, but I’m insistent,” Mario added with a grin.

“Then it’s good -- Thomas can be quite stubborn sometimes.”

“Me too,” Mario said. “It’s written in my Spanish family tree.”

Michael laughed quietly. “Then they’ve found the right match!” Thomas nodded and grabbed for Mario’s hand. Mario returned the pressure and felt the warmth Thomas did.

“Oh, you two are really a lovely pair,” Christin said.

“I’m so happy we managed it,” Thomas smiled.

“Me too,” Mario said. Thomas’ smile spread and he pulled Mario close to him. Mario leaned in to Thomas without hesitation.


	45. Casserole at Philipp's

They drove back that evening with the feeling they’d found a kind of second family. It was easier for Mario to accept Michi’s hostility after such a nice afternoon. Besides, he was still had a lot of hope for the meal the next day. Phil was convinced that Andi and Holger would take it positively.

Still, Mario was very nervous when he and Thomas drove to Philipp’s the next evening. Andi’s car was already in front of the door, only Holger seemed to not be there yet. Thomas tried to relax Mario, but that wasn’t easy for him since he was nervous himself. Mario felt quickly for Thomas’ hand, squeezed it tight, and then rung the doorbell. It only took a moment for Andi to open the door. “Come in, Philipp’s still fighting the casserole.”

“I am not!” Phil’s answer came out of the kitchen.

“Ok, he apparently just won. Or lost?” he called the last words louder towards the kitchen. Phil snorted audibly.

“Come on, we’d better go to the living room,” Andi pushed them along.

“Yes exactly, stay clear out of the kitchen, you’ll just get in my way,” Phil laughed, bending around the corner quickly.

“How long do you still need? Should we set the table?”

“10 minutes,” Phil said. “As long as Holger’s here by then. Otherwise, you’ll have to starve.”

“What -- you’d let us starve just because Holger’s lost his way?”

Phil laughed. “Exactly.”

Mario went to the kitchen to get silverware and dishes while Thomas and Andi chatted. “Nervous?” Phil asked him quietly.

“Who wouldn’t be? Especially after Michi -- that was serious yesterday!”

Phil nodded. “But you don’t have to worry about Andi and Holger. I know both of them well and long enough to be sure when I say that.”

“Your word…” Mario muttered.

“Trust me,” Phil said smiling. Mario nodded a bit unsure and grabbed serving utensils out of a drawer.

At that moment, the doorbell rang. “Holger smelled that dinner was ready,” Phil laughed. Mario grinned and carried everything through while Andi opened the door for Holger.

“What do you want to drink guys?” Phil called out of the kitchen.

“Apple spritzer,” several voices said at once from the hallway and living room.

“Then get it yourselves!”

“Ugh, what a bad host,” Holger protested.

“I cooked,” Phil protested. “Now come on Mario, Holger, you’re both big and strong and can help me carry things.”

“I’m already here,” Mario already had glasses in his hand. Holger also came dutifully into the kitchen and grabbed sparkling water and apple juice. A bit later, they were all sitting in the living room together eating Philipp’s casserole.

“Very good, Phil,” Andi muttered with his mouth full.

“Hmh,” Mario agreed.

“Did Michi have something else going on?” Holger asked. “Or why isn’t he here too?”

Mario gulped slightly and he felt that Thomas was also uncomfortable. “Dude, Holger, Michi’s in a fight with Mario and Thomas,” Andi said shaking his head. “Sometimes you live with your head in the clouds, don’t you?”

“Sometimes…” Holger muttered. “But it’s that bad?”

Andi shrugged and looked at Mario and Thomas. “Michi avoids the questions and our two heroes here do too.”

“These two heroes actually invited you two here because they don’t want to avoid anymore,” Philipp explained.

“Oh,” Andi said surprised.

“And… what’s it about?” Holger asked.

Mario gulped and looked at Thomas questioningly. He nodded at him and grabbed his hand, since he couldn’t give him relaxation at that moment.

“Come on, it can’t be that bad,” Andi tried to give them courage.

Thomas hesitated a moment, then he set their entwined hands on the table. “That’s what it’s about…”

“How?” Holger asked.

This time, Andi hit him hard on the back of the head. “Wake up!”

“Ow! That was mean Andi!”

“How can you not understand?”

Phil laughed quietly. “Think about it for a second Holger.”

It took a moment, then he shook his head. “That can’t be why Michi’s having a cow at you, can it?”

“What do you think then?” Mario asked quietly.

“He doesn’t have anything against you two being together, does he? I mean… is he jealous?”

Thomas stared at Holger and then began laughing. “You… you’re great… is Michi jealous…”

“No?”

 

“No,” Phil shook his head. “Michi’s got something against gays.”

Mario nodded. “He… thinks it’s disgusting.”

Andi nodded. “That… doesn’t surprise me.”

“Really, it doesn’t?” Mario asked.

“I never talked to him about it, but… I don’t know, somehow I expected this.”

Thomas sighed. “Pity we didn’t ask you about it before. Then we would have been spared it.”

Andi shrugged. “Now it’s too late…”

“Do you think he’ll calm down again?” Mario asked.

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “But… if he sees that we don’t have anything against it, and maybe I could talk to him.”

“That would be good,” Phil said. “He won’t listen to me.”

“Already tried?” Thomas asked.

Phil nodded. “He ignores it. And last night he told me rather charmingly that I probably belong with you myself, since I’m defending you.”

“Shit,” Mario muttered, but Thomas calmed him down quickly. “At least he’s not talking about it.”

Phil nodded. “Michi’s not a blabbermouth. He’d rather swallow his problems down, the idiot.”

“At least that’s better than if he were to go door-to-door with it… that would be bad,” Thomas said.

“I’m hanging out with him tomorrow,” Andi said. “I’ll see what I can do for you then.”

“That would be nice of you,” Mario smiled at him. “And… what’s with you Holger?”

“What’s supposed to be with me?” Holger asked. “I’m happy for you.”

“That’s nice,” Mario smiled.

“You see,” Phil said. “I told you that the two of them wouldn’t have anything against it.”

“We should have asked you first about Michi,” Thomas murmured.

“Too late to change that now,” Phil shook his head.

“I hope that he’ll calm down,” Mario said.

“It’ll be ok again,” Andi said.

“We were such good friends, and now all of a sudden…”

“At least you have Thomas on your side now,” Andi said.

Mario smiled immediately. “I’m happy we managed it.”

“You can see,” Holger nodded.

Thomas wrapped his arm around Mario and pulled him in slightly. Mario cuddled into him straightaway. He was so incredibly relieved at Andi’s and Holger’s reaction. “Do you want to move over to the sofa?” Philipp suggested.

“Good idea,” Thomas nodded.

“Go get comfortable, I’ll be right back.”

Mario and Thomas stood up, followed by Andi and Holger, and let themselves get comfortable on the sofa and chairs. Immediately, Thomas cuddled up to Mario and let himself be pulled into his arms. “Now I see why you two wanted a room together so badly,” Andi laughed.

“It’s dumb to sleep in different rooms in a hotel,” Thomas murmured.

“Clearly,” Andi nodded. “And… you can motivate each other a bit as well.”

“We slept,” Mario protested, turning very red under Holger’s gaze.

“Hard to believe Mario Gomez can turn red,” Holger snorted. Thomas laughed quietly and rubbed his neck gently.

“Don’t upset him now,” Andi said with a grin.

“I like it when he’s this red,” Thomas grinned and casually brushed over Mario’s carotid artery. Mario closed his eyes involuntarily when he felt the light touch.

“Well aren’t you two in love,” Andi smiled.

“It’s still very new,” Mario said quietly.

“Nice that we found out so soon,” Andi thanked them honestly.

“We’re just happy to have at least a few friends we could share with,” Thomas said.

“We’re here for you,” Holger said firmly.

“Thanks. It means a lot.” Holger nodded again, then the topic was closed for him as well as Andi, and it just became a nice evening.

It was a bit late when the four of them said goodbye to Phil and set off towards home. Thomas and mario drove to Thomas’ house, and as soon as they were there and the door shut behind them, they could finally kiss again. “That went well,” Mario whispered against Thomas’ lips.

“Very well in fact,” Thomas smiled.

“Andi and Holger are great.”

“They’re good friends, and I’m very happy about that.”

“Me too,” Mario nodded and kissed Thomas again.

He gradually pulled him farther into the apartment towards the bedroom. Thomas let himself get dragged along gladly. Mario pushed him towards the bed.

“So impatient?” Thomas asked roughly. Mario just nodded and pressed closer. Thomas gasped when he sensed how much Mario wanted him. He let himself get shoved onto the bed and pulled Mario on top of him.

Immediately, Mario kissed him again wildly and simultaneously shoved a hand between their bodies. Thomas gasped hoarsely and ran his hands over Mario’s back and butt. Mario needed two attempts before he finally opened the button on Thomas’ jeans. Immediately he shoved his hand into the pants and under the shorts. He was soon holding his stiff cock in his hand. Thomas let out a hoarse noise and thrust slightly in Mario’s hand. Mario kept gasping quietly.

In the meantime, Thomas had also opened Mario’s pants and now pulled them down past his hips. Quickly, Mario pushed them down and shook them off his legs. Thomas also freed himself of his jeans and then pulled his shirt over his head. Then he pulled Mario down on him again. Mario pressed against him, letting his hands glide over Thomas’ body. Then he felt lips on his neck, on his carotid artery. Immediately, a wave of arousal swept through his body. But Thomas was only licking the spot. Mario felt him holding back, but he didn’t bite.

Mario didn’t have any objections to that and let Thomas feel that too. But Thomas shook his head, he refused to bite him. Instead, he kissed down across Mario’s chest. Mario closed his eyes and pressed his body against Thomas’ skilled tongue. He kissed the skin, the nipples, and somehow, Mario hadn’t really noticed how, Thomas was lying on top of him kissing his stomach. Mario buried one hand in Thomas’ hair and moaned hoarsely. Thomas worked his way farther, deeper, nibbling gently on his hip bones and kissing and licking gradually inwards.

A shudder ran through Mario’s body and he spread his legs so Thomas would have more room. Slowly, Thomas kissed more, and Mario felt he could barely hold back. “Thomas… please…!”

“What?” Thomas asked hoarsely and licked his groin.

“More, Thomas, please…”

Thomas gasped, then he couldn’t hold himself back anymore and bit deeply into the femoral artery. Mario let out a hoarse scream and bent against him. Thomas sucked, and warm precious blood ran into his mouth. Mario buried his fingers into the blanket beneath him and moaned again. Then Thomas touched his dick, surrounded it with his hands -- and that made Mario come.

Thomas felt as Mario came and his boyfriend’s feelings drove him to climax too. With a loud gasp, he came. Gently, he licked the wound on Mario’s inner thigh and then pushed himself higher.

“Wow,” Mario whispered, slightly disoriented and pulled him into his arms. Thomas cuddled up to him and closed his eyes. He felt Mario slowly relaxing and that carried over to him too. He hadn’t wanted to bite him again already, but he couldn’t resist. Mario offered himself in such a way that it seemed to make him completely powerless. It was hard enough to control himself and not nibble more than a tiny amount. Mario’s blood was so sweet, so incomparable. And being able to drink it was incredible joy. Holding him in his arms afterwards, to be allowed to love him, made the joy perfect.

“I’m also happy,” Mario whispered, barely audibly. Thomas smiled, he felt it, but hearing it strengthened the feeling. Mario closed his eyes while he softly pawed at Thomas’ neck. A bit later, he fell asleep, and Thomas followed him too.


	46. A Short Trip

It was finally getting warmer. The ice cold winter air wasn’t whistling in their ears at training and around them everything was turning green and blooming. Spring had finally arrived. Mario was more than happy about it. The winter had worn on annoyingly long.

After the first visit to Pähl, they had also been to Stuttgart, and Thomas was immediately taken in by his family. No one was bothered by the cat hiding in the furthest corner during the visit or the budgies not daring to make a single peep.

The only bitterness continued to be the problems with Michi. Even though he had apologized for his words, their friendship wasn’t the same anymore. He still maintained a distance and still didn’t accept that his friends were gay and together -- even though they acted normally in his presence without indicating they were in love. It hurt, even if Phil said they should have patience.

The two of them had more contact with Phil more than ever before. They often did things together -- with Philipp’s girlfriend too. And Andi and Holger were also around more often. Still, Mario especially missed his earlier best friend.

“What are you brooding about now?” Thomas asked quietly.

“I miss Michi. And…” he sighed quietly.

“And?” Thomas asked and slung an arm around Mario.

“I don’t know if it’ll ever be like before,” Mario mumbled and leaned back on him.

Thomas sighed and kissed Mario’s temple. “All we can do is be patient.”

Mario closed his eyes and let Thomas’s calmness work on him. “Michi misses you too, you know,” Thomas whispered. Mario was a bit shocked for a moment, then he nodded. It still hurt.

“Give him a bit of time.”

“Even more?”

Thomas nodded. “You know Michi and his stubbornness. It takes a while before he’s convinced of something. But I’m sure that your friendship will win at the end of the day.”

Not entirely convinced, Mario nodded. “And now, enough of the gloomy thoughts,” Thomas said and smiled at Mario. Mario leaned on him again and kissed him shortly. Thomas was right, the weather was beautiful and they would be spending the next few days in Pähl.

“Are you already packed?” Thomas asked.

Mario nodded. “Since this morning.”

“Great,” Thomas smiled and kissed the tip of Mario’s nose. “Then we can head out now.”

Mario nodded. “I’ll grab my back fast,” he stood up and went to his bedroom.

Thomas watched him with a smile. His feelings for Mario hadn’t changed. Rather the opposite. He was so incredibly happy with him. Their closeness, which originally had been strange for him, now felt completely natural, and it was uncomfortable for him to be so far away from Mario that he couldn’t sense him anymore. And likewise for Mario, which is why they had become virtually inseparable.

They’d also figured out how to pass along certain feelings so that they didn’t have to say most things allowed. So Thomas now concentrated on his impatience to pressure Mario to hurry a bit.

“I’m coming already,” Mario laughed and came back into the living room with his bag.

Thomas laughed as well and stood up. “Philipp’s probably already waiting.”

Mario nodded. “Then let’s go.”

“Thomas took his bag from him and carried it quickly downstairs to the car. A bit later, they were stopping in front of Phil’s apartment. Mario honked twice and they saw Phil come out of the house. He also had a backpack packed for the two days they’d be staying in Pähl. “Hey you two,” Phil smiled, making himself comfortable in the backseat of the car.

“Hey -- I’m glad it finally worked out for you to come along,” Thomas said happily.

“Since Claudia left me alone this weekend, it was a perfect opportunity,” Phil grinned.

“Then we’ll save you from evil loneliness,” Mario laughed and started the car.

“Besides, it’s nice to have someone who likes to ride,” Phil nodded.

“Thomas’ brother has great horses,” Mario gushed.

“I can convince myself of that soon enough,” Phil laughed.

Thomas nodded, and while they continued chatting cheerily, they neared Pähl. A couple minutes later, Thomas parked his car on the farm near Michael’s car. “Here we are.”

“It’s nice here,” Philipp smiled and looked around while climbing out of the car. A well-cared-for lawn, daffodils and tulips and beets on the edges, and the homey smell of animals.

“Thomas, Mario!” Michael who’d heard the car came out of the stable to meet them.

“Hey,” the two of them greeted him and were immediately pulled into a tight hug.

“And you’re Philipp,” Michael smiled and stretched his hand out to Phil. Phil put on a beaming smile and greeted him.

“Come straight into the house, the children are so excited that their two favorite uncles are coming,” Michael said.

Mario laughed quietly and they entered the house together. “They’re here!” they heard Marie call out of the kitchen.

A second later, Mario and Thomas each had a happy child in their arms. Christin followed the two of them and came to greet the three herself. “It’s great you’re here,” she smiled and hugged them.

Then, they followed Christin into the kitchen where the table was set for a late breakfast. “Coffee’ll be ready soon,” she said.

Mario pushed Philipp into the kitchen in front of him, then sat down between David and Marie. “Don’t you two have to go to preschool today?”

“The kids have a field trip today,” Christin said. “Yeah, we’re going into the forest this afternoon,” Marie said immediately with gleaming eyes.

“Oh, that’s wonderful. Do you want to see if you can find the Easter bunny?”

“There’s no such thing,” David said.

“Yeah there is! Who else brings the Easter eggs?” Marie demanded of him with a stuck-out chin.

“But bunnies don’t lay eggs,” David said and stuck his tongue out at his sister.

“But he brings them!”

“No!”

“Yes!” Marie contradicted him forcefully.

“Don’t fight children,” Christin said.

David grumbled something and Marie’s triumphant grin didn’t make it easier, but soon it was calm at the table. “Thomas told us that you have your own racehorse?” Michael asked Phil, once they’d all taken the edge of their hunger.

Philipp nodded. “Surabaja. She runs derbies and is pretty successful.”

“And you ride yourself?”

“Not on Surabaja, she’s too temperamental. But otherwise yes, I love to.”

“But sadly we never have enough time for it,” Thomas added.

Philipp nodded. “I’d love to ride more. But I don’t even have time to justify having my own riding horse.”

“You can come here and take one of ours whenever,” Michael said immediately. “We don’t have the time to ride them all regularly here.”

Philipp nodded, thrilled. “That’s great!”

Thomas smiled, sensing Phil’s joy. It was nice to be able to thank him a bit with this for the support in the past few months. Michael began talking about the horses, and when the kids headed out to their field trip, they went to the stables. “Come here, I’ll show you Negra,” Mario said and pulled Phil to her stall.

Philipp followed him while Thomas and Michael help back a bit. That way it was less noticeable that the horses all hid from Thomas, and Thomas could get a bit closer to Senegal. Michael got Macarena and Bailey, who was meant for Phil, out of the stable. Together, they saddled the horses, Mario had also learned how. They had just finished when Thomas came out with Senegal.


	47. An Accident with Consequences

“Ah, you’re both ready,” Thomas grinned.

“You always have to dawdle,” Mario grinned and climbed into the saddle noticeably more elegantly than his first time.

“Me?” Thomas asked, feigning offense. “Senegal had to be convinced to leave his comfortable saddle.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Mario laughed and watched Thomas climb onto his horse as elegant as ever.

“Watch out, you’re starting to drool,” Phil grinned when he saw Mario’s facial expression.

“He’s just a beautiful man,” Mario returned the grin.

“If you say so,” Phil shrugged.

“You have no idea,” Mario laughed and nudged Macarena to start. 

“I know,” Phil grinned. “Completely clueless…”

“Come on -- it’s a nice place here,” Thomas drove them on.

“And he’s hounding on us already,” Mario fake-groaned.

“I want to get to the forest,” Thomas smiled and rode off.

“Yeah, yeah,” Mario grinned and spurred Macarena on. Phil followed on Bailey.

It was pleasantly warm and smelled like spring as they rode through the forest. “It’s lovely here,” Phil said.

Thomas beamed. “I always feel strangely at home here.”

“We’ll have to see if I can convince Claudia to come sometime,” Phil said.

“Does she ride too?” Mario wanted to know.

“Now and then,” Phil nodded.

“Then she can come the next time too,” Thomas smiled and led them farther along the edge of the forest. “We shouldn’t ride into the woods, today’s the hunt.”

“Hunt?” Mario asked curious.

“They always go on a hunt before Easter. Wild boars,” Thomas explained.

Mario nodded. “Have you ever been along?” he asked.

Thomas nodded. “With my father, he was a hunter.”

“Really?” Phil asked. “I didn’t know that.”

Thomas nodded. “But it’s been a few years since the last time I went on the hunt.”

“I don’t know if I could,” Phil said. “When I think on my two poor rabbits…”

“I didn’t shoot any bunnies,” Thomas grinned. “Wild boar and venison… and that’s so delicious.”

“I eat too,” Phil nodded. “But I don’t think I could kill an animal.”

“Maybe you have to learn it when you’re young,” Thomas considered.

“I think so too,” Mario agreed.

“A bit faster?” Thomas suggested and pointed towards a far-off bend. “To there?”

“On three?” Mario grinned.

Thomas nodded, “One - two - three!” They rode off and soon it was apparent that Macarena was noticeably slower. While Bailey and Senegal led a neck-to-neck race, Macarena stayed farther behind. They both were already at the goal when a penetrating crack shocked the horses and riders deeply. Phil and Thomas managed to keep their animals under control, but Mario’s horse bucked wildly.

Mario couldn’t hold on and fell off. He banged his face into the ground and felt something break. “Mario!” Thomas’s horrified voice floated through to him. Then everything went dark.

Thomas jumped down when he saw, and most of all felt, how Mario hit the ground. The pain took his breath away for a moment. Then there was nothing left, no pain, no feeling. Different than when Mario slept, when he still got something. It was as if their connection had been cut through -- through loss of consciousness? Or more?

Panic gripped him. Without regard to Phil, he ran to Mario and sank down on his knees. His head was at a strange angle, but his heart was still beating, but very weakly.

“God, Mario,” Thomas whispered, fighting against the rising tears. Phil was soon kneeling next to him, taking of Mario’s helmet carefully and trying some sort of first aid. Thomas sensed his boyfriend’s pulse slowing further.

“Mario,” he gasped quietly and pulled him close. He couldn’t just let him die. Until an ambulance could get there, that would take way too long. Besides, the injury seemed to be so bad…

“I’ll call an ambulance,” Phil said and pulled his phone out of his pocket with shaking fingers. Thomas shook his head involuntarily and pulled Mario tighter to him. “Thomas I have to call an ambulance. Mario needs help.”

Thomas shook his head again. “It’s too late…”

Phil looked at him horrified. “How… but his heart’s still beating.”

“Look at him damn it,” Thomas hissed. “The neck isss…”

“What’s wrong with you Thomas?” Phil whispered horrified and edged back a bit.

“Will you help me sssave him?” Thomas asked hoarsely. His teeth were already impeding his speech, but it was Mario’s only chance.

Phil swallowed. “What’s your plan?”

“Can you come here?” Thomas asked him frantically.

Hesitantly, Phil slid closer. “What’s your plan, Thomas?”

“Trust me,” Thomas asked and pulled him tightly towards him, so tight, that Philipp couldn’t defend himself.

“I… I trust you,” Phil nodded.

The next moment, Thomas drove his teeth into Philipp’s neck. Surprised, Phil gasped. He had been expecting everything, but that? Thomas drunk, sucked as much blood as he could get quickly, then shoved Philipp away from him. With a weak noise, Phil fell onto the rocky ground. He pressed one hand up to his neck and watched Thomas with wide-open eyes.

He didn’t pay anymore attention to Philipp, biting Mario in the carotid artery as well. His heart was barely beating, but the blood still flowed, so he could drink as much as he could get.

He had never transfigured another vampire before, but he knew instinctively when he had to stop drinking. Purring, he let go of Mario and bit himself in the wrist. Then, he pressed the bleeding wound on Mario’s lips.

“What…?” Philipp asked weakly. He’d retreated a few meters back to safety and was now watching him frightened and curious at the same time.

“Drink Mario,” Thomas whispered without regards to Phil. The blood ran into Mario’s mouth, but he wasn’t swallowing. “Please Mario,” Thomas implored and ran his free hand over Mario’s larynx. “Please drink. You can’t leave me alone.” Still no reaction, so Thomas sobbed dryly.

“Hold… his head a bit higher,” Phil whispered hoarsely. The bite wound on his neck hurt like hell, but at least the bleeding was slowing down. Thomas nodded and lifted his head by the neck. He felt the crumbled vertebrae rub on each other noticeably. Phil crept closer and began rubbing Mario’s neck like Thomas.

He was starting to feel nauseous and groggy, and blood was still running over his neck and shoulder. What had actually happened, he didn’t realise, he was in shock. And so he kept rubbing Mario’s neck frantically. “Please Mario, please,” he heard Thomas beg again. Then, finally, he felt a small movement under his finders.

“He’s swallowing,” he croaked with a rough voice. Thomas just nodded and kept his neck massaging frantically. Finally, he felt Mario’s swallowing movements start up. Relieved, he clung onto Mario and felt him shaking slightly.

Partly fascinated, partly horrified, Phil looked at Mario. His face was covered in blood and was a gruesome sight. Thomas pressed on his wrist again to try to squeeze even more blood into Mario’s mouth. Mario was now drinking in deep gulps, his lips pressed tight against the wound.

“Good, very good,” Thomas whispered shakily with heaving shoulders. With one hand, he stroked Mario’s head and whispered something barely audible. Eventually, Mario stopped drinking and Thomas’ wound closed itself. Exhausted, Thomas pressed Mario to himself.

Philipp gave him a moment, then scooted closer. “What…?” he asked in disbelief.

Thomas looked at Phil and seemed to notice him consciously for the first time again. “We… we need to get out of here. Out of the sunshine,” he whispered. Philipp stared at him again. “Please Phil, you… you have to help me. I won’t manage alone.” Philipp nodded, still completely exhausted, and stood up cautiously. He was dizzy and was still bleeding.

“Wait,” Thomas said when he saw the wound. “I… have to stop the bleeding.” Again, Philipp stayed still and seemed to let everything happen.

“It won’t hurt,” Thomas promised and licked the wound once gently. Simultaneously, he penetrated Phil’s feelings a bit and blocked the pain. He felt fear, confusion, and a stroke of panic, but he couldn’t worry about those things, Mario was more important.

“Phil, can you catch the horses?” he asked, while he carefully lifted Mario. Philipp nodded fuzzily and stood up while Thomas carried Mario into the shadows. There, he let himself sink into the grass, with Mario carefully laying in his arms.

“Everything will be ok, I promise you,” he whispered and stroked one of Mario’s pale cheeks. He still wasn’t conscious and wouldn’t be for a while. Thomas could barely remember the first two weeks after his transformation himself. He didn’t know how long it would take for Mario, but he wasn’t too worried.

As soon as Mario was in safety, he would call Jakob. He would be able to support him in the upcoming weeks. The sun flashed through the light leaves of the spring foliage on the trees. Quickly, Thomas pulled off his jacket and covered Mario’s body to protect him a bit from the sun. Then he pulled a shoe off followed by his sock, and freed the amulet from his foot. Immediately, strong pain shot through his head.

He clenched his teeth and needed a moment until he could see again. A bit clumsily, he tied the amulet onto Mario’s wrist. Then he lifted Mario into his arms. “Philipp -- can you find your way back?” he called in the direction he guessed Philipp was.

“I… I think so,” came Phil’s unsure answer.

“I’ll send Michael to you,” Thomas promised and ran off.


	48. Explanations

The sun robbed him of a considerable part of his strength, but he was still faster than a normal person. So he reached his nephew’s house in a few minutes. He entered it through the always open backdoor and carried Mario immediately into the guest room -- the room which had previously been Thomas’s and in which he’d also laid back then.

Very gently, he laid him on the bed, then closed the curtains until only a very weak shimmer of daylight came through the cracks. He pushed the bed a bit so no sunbeam could reach it and sat down on the edge by Mario. The pain in his head slowly eased and he could see better again.

“Mario,” he whispered hoarsely and stroked the blood-streaked hair of his boyfriend. Carefully, almost a bit scared, he reached for Mario’s feelings. He felt… presence, but nothing else.

Immediately, he pulled back and suppressed a sob. He felt completely empty without Mario’s closeness, without his feelings. As if he himself were lying there on the bed. He didn’t know how long he’d sat there before the door opened. Light shone in the room and immediately caused Thomas’s head to ache. With a hiss, he turned his head away from the light source.

“What happened?” Michael asked, entering the room. “Philipp’s in pieces, I couldn’t get anything out of him.”

“Close… the door,” Thomas asked hoarsely. Immediately, the door fell shut and the sound seemed to make Thomas’ head split. He groaned. “Not so loud…”

“Damn it, what happened?” Michael asked more urgently, but quietly.

“Mario… fell from the horse,” Thomas told him haltingly. “He… his neck… He almost died…”

It took a moment before Michael got it. “And you…?”

“I had to.”

“And Philipp?”

Thomas looked at Michael. “I needed blood, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to do it.”

Michael gulped, he hadn’t really wanted to know how it was done. “I’ll… take care of him…”

“Thank you,” Thomas whispered.

“Do you need… anything?”

Thomas shook his head. “I… I need to call Jakob,” he muttered more to himself than Michael.

“Do that. And if you need anything else… No matter what…”

“I’ll let you know,” Thomas nodded.

“Then I’ll leave you two alone. We’ll see if I’ll still find Philipp in the stables…”

“Tell him… tell him that I’ll explain everything later,” Thomas requested.

“Will do. Should he come up here sometime? I mean… you won’t leave Mario alone.”

Thomas nodded. “But give me some time. Phil should… should lay down a bit and eat something.”

“I’ll tell him,” Michael nodded and slunk out of the room.

Exhausted, Thomas looked at Mario again. Carefully, he grabbed his hand and held it tightly.

Without thinking, he lay down next to him and pulled him into his arms. He tried to transfer as much calm and love as he could -- and he hoped that Mario would feel it.

“I love you Mario,” he whispered again. But Mario didn’t react -- he hadn’t really expected him too either. He didn’t know how long he laid like that next to Mario. He didn’t look up until there was a quiet knock on the door.

“Yes?” he called as quietly as possible out of the room. Very carefully, Phil entered the room and closed the door immediately behind him. Apparently, Michael had warned him.

“Come here, sit down,” Thomas pointed to a chair near the edge of the bed and carefully sat up.

Phil nodded weakly and sat. “How… how is he?”

“It’ll be ok,” Thomas said hopefully, but pulled him somewhat closer to himself.

“What… how…” Phil broke off helplessly and looked questioningly at Thomas.

Thomas nodded. “You deserve an explanation -- but I think you already have one?”

“Aside from me being crazy and having hallucinations?”

Thomas grinned wryly. “Also a good explanation.” He pulled Mario a bit closer. He still only felt his presence weakly and without feelings.

“But I’m not, am I?” Phil asked.

Thomas shook his head immediately. “No you’re not. Everything you saw, happened. I bit you first and took your blood, and then Mario.”

Involuntarily, Phil’s hand glided to his neck, even if there wasn’t a trace of his heavily bleeding bite wound anymore.

“Have you ever read Dracula?” Thomas asked quietly. “We’re not like that. But… some things are true.”

“So… you’re a vampire,” Phil said.

Thomas nodded. “And Mario too, if I did everything right.” Phil swallowed visibly. “I… I’m not a monster,” Thomas tried to explain quietly. “And a lot of things that are in the stories aren’t true.”

“But you… both… drink blood.”

Thomas nodded. “But not as much as today. Normally… Just a swallow every week or so. And we can bear the sun when we protect ourselves. And we don’t kill.”

“That’s a relief,” Phil muttered.

Thomas grinned again. “I love Mario, and until now I drank from him.”

“Only from him?”

Thomas nodded. “For years before, I managed with animal blood, but it didn’t work anymore.”

“And… and now?”

“I didn’t really think about it. I didn’t have a lot of time…”

“But how… how are things with Mario going to go?” Phil asked.

“He’ll need a while before he… wakes up. And then he’ll need blood, just like me.”

“That’s all…” Phil broke off and took a deep breath. “I always knew you had a secret, but I never thought something like this.”

Thomas nodded. “It’s connected to the other stuff too,” he explained.

“And what… what else can you do?” Phil asked.

Thomas shrugged. “I can make people believe things. The doctor for example, that he’s already examined me. He wouldn’t be very happy about my results.”

Phil grinned. “No pulse, no blood, no breath… did I forget something?”

Thomas laughed quietly, it was nice how relatively at-ease Philipp was being with him. “I’m fast -- faster than people. Stronger too. And the thing with dying, that’s also unlikely.”

Phil nodded slowly. It was a whole lot to take in at once, and he could feel the start of a hefty headache behind his forehead.

“Do you want to lay down? Or should I try…?”

“It’s fine,” Phil shook his head. “I’ll lay down soon.”

“You know where you room is?”

“Michael showed me,” Phil nodded. “You… you should both shower Thomas. Mario looks rather terrifying.”

Thomas swallowed and stroked Mario’s sticky hair.

“Should… should I help you?” Phil offered hesitantly.

“That… would be nice,” Thomas nodded. He sat up completely and lifted Mario as if he were just a toy.

“I’ll find dry clothing for Mario,” Phil said.

“Thank you,” Thomas nodded and carried Mario carefully into the bathroom. Fortunately, there wasn’t just a shower there, but also a bath tub. He stripped Mario and laid him in the tub. Then he let a comfortably warm water run over his body and washed his hair.

The water took on a copper tone as it ran down the drain from Mario’s body.

He lathered Mario up a second time. Eventually, the last bit of blood disappeared and Thomas turned off the water. “Can you get me a towel?” he asked Phil. Immediately, Phil handed him a large, soft towel. Very gently, Thomas began drying Mario off.

Philipp had actually wanted to take that duty from him and send him under the shower, but he couldn’t do that now. Eventually, he straightened up and lifted Mario out of the tub. “I’ll… carry him back to bed. Can you stay with him while I shower?” he asked Phil.

“Of course,” Philipp nodded. He was fairly exhausted, but if he sat in the chair, it would be manageable.

“I’ll go fast,” Thomas promised, sensing how tired Phil was.

“Bring him over quickly and wash yourself,” Philipp just nodded and followed Thomas into the guest room. Softly, Thomas laid Mario back down in bed and covered him. Then he pressed a kiss on his forehead. “I’ll be back soon,” he promised him.

Philipp sat on the chair and hugged his legs. He watched Thomas leave the room, then closed his eyes for a second. The loss of blood had worn him out and he still hadn’t digested what he had just heard. When Thomas came back into the guest room a few minutes later clean with still-wet hair, Philipp was fast asleep.

Thomas sighed. He was sorry that Phil had to find out about him in that way. He got a woolen blanket out of the closet and spread it carefully over Phil. Then he sat down next to Mario on the bed again and grabbed his cold hand. Now that Mario was clean, you could almost think that he was just sleeping. But he wasn’t. He was transfigured -- or was he currently transfiguring?

He wanted to call Jakob and ask him, but he didn’t want to leave Mario alone and Phil needed sleep too much to be able to call from the room. Besides, Mario was sleeping anyway and would for quite some time.

He stayed sitting for a while, then stood up. Maybe Jakob could come by that evening and look in on Mario. Quickly, he slid out of the room and entered the bathroom which didn’t have a window, where no sun would disturb him. He sat down on the edge of the tub and pulled out his phone.


	49. Fear and Reproach

“Hey little one -- what’s up?” he was greeted cheerily.

“Can you… can you come here?” Thomas asked quietly, leaning his head against the tiles. “I… changed Mario. I hope… It… Jakob, I need your help…”

“Are you in Munich?” Jakob asked quickly.

“No, in Pähl,” Thomas muttered.

“Twenty-five minutes,” Jakob said, then hung up.

Relieved, Thomas shoved his phone back into his pockets and stood up.

He closed his eyes and quickly went down the bright hallway back into the dark guest room. Hopefully, Jakob would be able to find a new amulet soon, he thought, then laid back down next to Mario.

He cuddled up against Mario’s back and kissed his neck. “Everything will be ok soon.” Again, he felt no reaction. That was what was driving him to his wit’s end the most. Not feeling Mario, not knowing how he was doing. Hopefully that would come back! He involuntarily pressed himself tighter to Mario.

His body was cool, almost cold, and lifeless. There was no pulse, no warmth. It was as if Mario were really dead. Why hadn’t he taken better care of him? Why did he have to start a stupid race? He knew that Mario wasn’t the best rider. And then the hunters in the forest. He reproached himself for being so careless.

It was his fault that everything had happened. That Mario’s life as a human was over. He had killed his boyfriend, and could only hope that he’d at least keep existing as a vampire. With his luck, he had messed that up too. And then he’d lost Mario forever. “Mario,” he whispered hoarsely and shakily, and if he still had tears, they would have been running like rivers.

Yes, he probably would have eventually made Mario into a vampire, simply because he couldn’t bear the thought of existing without Mario. But he would have waited years and not just let it happen… They had already talked about it once, and Mario had wanted to be transfigured eventually -- but not like that, not today! Thomas pressed his lips against the cold skin. A few hours ago, it had still been warm and he had felt Mario’s deep love for him.

“Mario,” he whispered hoarsely. He would never sense his warmth again, never be able to taste his precious blood. Never feel his feelings, his love? As if through a veil, he noticed Phil moving and slowly sitting up.

“Thomas?” he asked quietly, barely audibly. Thomas raised his head and looked at Phil. “Is he… what’s up with him?”

“I… The transfiguration doesn’t just happen instantly,” Thomas whispered.

“But… He’ll…?”

“I don’t know…”

Quietly, Philipp sighed and laid a hand on his shoulder. “And… when?”

“Jakob will hopefully be here soon,” Thomas said quietly.

“Jakob?” Philipp asked.

“Jakob is… my mentor,” Thomas explained. “He showed me everything that vampires have to know.”

Philipp nodded. “Then… should I go?”

“You can stay,” Thomas shook his head. “If you want, I mean.”

“He… won’t have a problem?”

“You’re a good friend, Phil. And besides I… kind of pulled you in, drinking your blood.”

Philipp swallowed visibly and nodded. It was apparently uncomfortable for him. Thomas smiled at him slightly. “You don’t have to stay if you’re uncomfortable.”

“No… it’s fine. I just thought about you… drinking from me. Or whatever you call it.”

“I’m sorry Phil,” Thomas said and meant it completely. “I… was panicked and didn’t have any time.”

“I know, and… if you had had time to explain everything to me, I would have let you.”

Thomas gulped and lowered his gaze for a moment. “Thanks, Phil.”

Philipp shrugged. “You wanted to save your boyfriend’s life, what kind of friend would I be if I wouldn’t let you?”

“There’s not a lot of people who think that way,” Thomas shook his head.

“No? Should I have let Mario die?”

“Just believe me,” Thomas said. “Besides, it wasn’t exactly not dangerous for you. I wasn’t… particularly soft with you.”

“I wouldn’t have died from it, would I? So in the worst case, I would have been better off than Mario.”

“If I had taken too much blood, you would have died,” Thomas said decisively.

Philipp swallowed, then nodded. “And… how likely was that?”

Thomas shrugged. “I don’t think you were actually in danger. I… barely noticed the taste of your blood. It was too important to me to save Mario.”

“I really hope you managed to.”

“Me too,” Thomas whispered and looked at Mario again.

“I… I’m going to get something to drink. Do you want… or do you not drink?”

“I eat and drink when I want to,” Thomas explained. “And I… I think I’d like something. Juice, if there is any.” Philipp nodded and left the room.

Alone with Mario again, Thomas cuddled into him immediately. “Mario, please don’t leave me alone,” he whispered when the doubts came back. “I need you… I can’t live without you…”


End file.
